WBCS Current Affairs 22/11/2014 to 28/11/2014
Posted: Fri Nov 28, 2014 7:54 pm1.Boxer Manoj Kumar was awarded prestigious Arjuna Award by Sports Minister Sarbananda Sonowal in New Delhi. He was awarded this award after winning a High Court case against Sports ministry. Manoj Kumar is 2010 Commonwealth Games gold medalist.
2.National Milk Day was observed in Gujarat to mark 93rd birth anniversary of Dr.Verghese Kurien. It was the first of its kind initiative organized by all dairy majors to celebrate November 26 as National Milk Day in the memory Dr Verghese Kurien.World Milk Day: Globally, 1st June is annually celebrated as World Milk Day. In 2001, this day was designated by the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (UN-FAO).
It aims to publicize activities related to milk and milk industries and raise public awareness about the importance of milk and milk products for everyone throughout life.
3.Former Uttar Pradesh Chief Secretary Anoop Mishra, will be the new Secretary-General of the Lok Sabha. It was announced by the Lok Sabha Speaker Sumitra Mahajan. He will have the rank and status of Cabinet Secretary with effect from 1st December 2014 to 30th November 2016 or until further orders.
4.Rajya Sabha has passed Labour Laws Amendment Bill, 2011 which simplifies labour law procedures for establishments employing up to 40 workers. This bill amends the Labour Laws (Exemption from Furnishing Returns and Maintaining Registers by Certain Establishments) Amendment and Miscellaneous Provisions Act, 1988.
The Amendment Bill, proposes to change the original Act of 1988 by
Increasing the number of laws under which small establishments are exempted from furnishing returns and maintaining registers.
Amending the definition of “small” establishments to cover units employing between 10 to 40 workers as against the limit of 19 workers at present.
The seven Acts that are added to the list includes
Motor Transport Workers Act, 1961.
Payment of Bonus Act, 1965.
Inter-State Migrant Workmen (Regulation of Employment and Conditions of Service) Act, 1979
Building and Other Construction Workers (Regulation of Employment and Conditions of Service) Act, 1996.
Beedi and Cigar Workers (Conditions of Employment) Act, 1966.
Dock Workers (Safety, Health and Welfare) Act, 1986.
Child Labour (Prohibition and Regulation) Act, 1986.
The Bill also adds that the employer may maintain the returns filed and the registers on a computer, computer disk or other electronic media.
Background
The Act of 1988, defines “small establishments” as any place which employs between 10 and 19 people on any day of the preceding 12 months. A “very small establishment” is a place that employs nine or less people.
Under it, these small and very establishments are exempted from furnishing returns and maintaining registers under certain labour laws.
Small establishments were also exempted from furnishing returns and maintaining registers under certain laws.
Under the Act of 1988, the establishments were required to furnish returns and maintain registers in a specified format.
Thus this Amendment Bill seeks to widen the earlier Act to more establishments and adds more laws from which these establishments were exempted earlier.
5.The government has approved revival of 7 sick central PSUs through disinvestment or joint venture route. These companies have been chosen for revival based on the recommendations of Board for Reconstruction of Public Sector Enterprises (BRPSE). The sick CPSEs which will be revived include HMT Machine Tools and Tyre Corporation, Tungabhadra Steel Products, HMT Bearings, Richardson & Cruddas Ltd, Central Inland Water Transport Corp and Hoogly Docks & Port Engineers Ltd.
6.India and Nepal signed an agreement to construct a USD one billion hydropower plant on Arun River. It aims to generate 900-megawatt of electricity.
Key facts
India’s state-owned Satluj Jal Vidyut Nigam will construct the mega power plant.
It will start generation of power by 2021.
Nepal will receive around 22 per cent of the power generated from the plant free.
This project will help to meet some part of Nepal’s power demand as it is grappling with severe power shortage.
Thus by signing this agreement shows that India is has great interest in exploiting the abundant untapped hydropower resources of Nepal as it has vast network of fast-flowing rivers.
7.Haryana government has reduced retirement age of government employees from 60 to 58 years.
This decision was taken in cabinet meet headed by Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar. It was also announced that the upper age limit for fresh recruitment will remain 42 years. Earlier, Congress-led Bhupinder Singh Hooda government in Haryana had announced to increase retirement age for government staff from 58 to 60 years.
It was a populist decision announced by then Congress government just before the 15th October 2014 assembly election in the state.
8.Pakistani writer, Bilal Tanweer has won the 2014 Shakti Bhatt First Book Prize for his novel “The Scatter Here Is Too Great”. The award carries a cash component of Rs. 2 lakh.This year’s judges for Shakti Bhatt First Book Prize were authors Amit Chaudhuri, Aatish Taseer and Mridula Koshy (2009 winner of the Shakti Bhatt First Book Prize).
9.Government recently launched the ‘Swachh Bharat Kosh’- a fund that will be utilised to build toilets in schools, rural and urban areas to achieve the objective of cleanliness across the country.
It will seek to attract donations under Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) from Corporate Sector and contributions from individuals and philanthropists to achieve the objective of Clean India (Swachh Bharat) by the year 2019.
Key facts about ‘Swachh Bharat Kosh’
Objective: Funds will be used for improving cleanliness levels in rural and urban areas, including in schools. As a top priority, funds will be used to bring out innovative projects and girl toilets.
Governing Council: It will be under the Ministry of Finance and will be managed by a Governing Council headed by Expenditure Secretary.
Monitoring: Its functioning will be monitored on quarterly basis by the Finance Minister and by the Prime Minister from time-to-time.
Activities:
Projects under it will be implemented and carried out by the existing institutions at the state, district, and sub district level and no new institutions would be created.
These funds will finance activities such as construction of new toilets as well as repair and renovation of dysfunctional toilets in rural areas, urban areas, elementary, secondary and senior secondary government schools, aanganwaadis.
It will be also used for constructing water lines to the toilets, training and skill development to maintain hygiene in the toilets as well as other activities to improve sanitation.
Prime Minister himself will acknowledge contributions of over Rs 1 crore made by individuals and of over Rs 20 crore by corporates.
10.Kathak queen and legend Sitara Devi passed away. She was 94. She was living legend and a renowned exponent of the classical Indian dance Kathak and was well known for her own niche style of Kathak.
11.The “Hand-in-Hand 2014”- joint military exercise of India and China for Counter Insurgency (CI) and Counter Terrorism (CT) concluded in Pune, Maharashtra. In the concluding ceremony, defence establishments of both countries agreed to continue such friendship efforts in future.
This joint military exercise provided platform for both nations to join of hands which will help at the global level not only for peace, but also for prosperity.
The exercise had started in Aundh Camp, Pune on 16th November 2014. It was 12 days exercise between both countries.
12.President Pranab Mukherjee inaugurated First Commonwealth Science Conference (CSC) held in Bengaluru. It is organised for the first time in nearly after 50 years. Special guest at the inaugural event was Duke of York Prince Andrew.
This four-day conference is being organised by Royal Society, London and is supported by the Union Government, Queen Elizabeth Diamond Jubilee Trust and Bengaluru based Jawaharlal Nehru Centre for Advanced Scientific Research (JNCAR).
Indian scientist and Bharat Ratna awardee Prof C N R Rao, is co-chair of the steering committee of the conference.
13.Union Road Transport and Highways Minister Nitin Gadkari flagged off the Delhi-Kathmandu bus service from Delhi. This bus service aims to boost trade and tourism and will also strengthen the bilateral ties between India and Nepal.
14.Indian Women Boxer, Sarjubala Devi has won Silver medal in the World Women’s Boxing Championships held in Jeju City, Korea. In the final match of the 48kg division, she lost to Nazym Kyzaibay of Kazakhstan by 0-3.
15.The deadline to reach a comprehensive agreement for a Iran’s Nuclear Programme deal with six world powers i.e. P-6 or P-5 +1 countries has been extended to the end of June, 2015 after recent talks in Vienna, Austrian failed.
P-6 countries include the five permanent members of the UN Security Council viz., USA, Russia, China, UK, France and non- permanent member Germany.
Failure in the talks came after intensive five-day diplomatic push in Vienna involving the foreign ministers of Iran, the United States, Russia, China, Britain, France and Germany.
It is the second extension this year as Iran and P-6 nations failed to reach any agreement over Iran’s Nuclear Programme deadlock.
Now they have agreed to extend discussions, with the aim of reaching a high-level political agreement by 1 March, 2015 and confirming the full technical details of the agreement by 1 July, 2015.
Summary Background
There is decade long deadlock between Iran and Western countries over the issue of Iran’s Nuclear Programme and safety concerns of uranium enrichment.
Western Countries allegations: Western countries especially US is alleging Iran, that their Nuclear Programme may be used by them to produce enriched uranium to develop nuclear warheads.
Iran’s response: However, Iran has refused the allegations of western countries and has clearly mentioned that it is its sovereign right to continue its nuclear programme to their energy demand. Even they had mentioned that their Nuclear programme is completely peaceful and not for defence purpose.
P-6 countries want Iran to reduce its uranium enrichment programme to make sure it cannot produce nuclear warheads.
16.The UK Government has unveiled new package of counter-terror measures. This new package is part of UK’s new Counter Terrorism and Security Bill.
The counter-terror package includes tough new measures, including a ban on insurance companies covering the cost of terrorist ransoms and stripping teenage jehadis of their passport, to counter the growing threat of terrorism.
17.NDA Government has named National Security Advisor (NSA) Ajit Doval as India’s Special Representative (SR) for boundary talks with China. NSA Ajit Doval role of SR will be to conduct boundary negotiations and strategic consultations with China. This arrangement will be part of NSA’s overall assignment.
18.Former Union Minister and Senior Congress leader Murli Deora passed away after prolonged illness. He was 77. Mr. Deora, had held several important portfolios at local and national level politics during his decades-long political career.
19.India and the UNSECO have signed a letter of intent (LoI) for better cooperation in the field of reducing disaster risks and capacity-building In Earth Sciences. The LoI was signed between Ministry of Earth Sciences and UNESCO in the presence of Harsh Vardhan, Union Minister for Science & Technology and Earth Sciences and Irina Bokova, Director General, UNESCO.
20.Winter Session of Parliament began on 24th November 2014. It will continue till 23rd December 2014 and will have 22 sittings.
In the month-long winter session, NDA government which has promised big reforms in its first budget is looking to push the Insurance Bill as well as the Goods and Service Tax Bill.
21.Norway’s Magnus Carlsen retained his title of World chess champion by defeating Indian opponent Viswanathan Anand in the 11th round of their title match held in Sochi, Russia.Carlsen scored 6.5 points after the final match to retain the title by defeating his challenger Viswanathan Anand who had held this championship title from 2007 to 2013.
22.Two Kerala-born Indian Catholics Father Kuriakose Elias Chavara and Sister Euphrasia have been canonised by Pope Francis at St Peter’s Square in Vatican.
Pope Francis pronounced them as saints at a special mass held at St Peter’s Square, Vatican. The ceremony included a Latin hymn and a recommendation by a representative of the Congregation for the Saints. Earler, in April this year, Pope had cleared their names for sainthood.
With these canonisation of sainthood, the centuries-old Syro Malabar Church, Kerala now has three Saints, the first being Sister Alphonsa, who was declared a saint in 2008 by the Vatican.
23.Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar has inaugurated the Information Management and Analysis Centre (IMAC) located in Gurgaon. It is a joint initiative of Indian Navy, Coast Guard and Bharat Electronics Ltd to improve coastal surveillance and to provide coastal security to avert incidents like the 26/11 terror attack on Mumbai.
24.Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar has inaugurated the Information Management and Analysis Centre (IMAC) located in Gurgaon. It is a joint initiative of Indian Navy, Coast Guard and Bharat Electronics Ltd to improve coastal surveillance and to provide coastal security to avert incidents like the 26/11 terror attack on Mumbai.
25.China has partly commissioned its Zangmu Hydropower Station- largest hydropower station in Tibet, built on Yarlung Zangbo River- local name of Brahmaputra River. The first generating unit of the Zangmu Hydropower Station went into operation. Its reaming five generating units will start operation after completion this project next year i.e. 2015. China is also planning to build similar type of projects on Yarlung Zangbo River.
Key Facts about Zangmu Hydropower Station
The Zangmu Dam is a gravity dam currently under construction on the roaring Yarlung Zangbo River.
It is located 9 km northwest of Gyaca in Tibet- Autonomous Region of China and 3300 metres above sea level on the “roof of the world”.
The purpose of the dam is hydroelectric power production using run-of-the-river technology.
It is designed to generate 2.5 billion kilowatt hours of power annually and will have a total installed capacity of 510,000 kilowatts upon completion.
26.Government has appointed former IAS officer Deepak Gupta as a new chairman of the Union Public Service Commission (UPSC). He took over as the chairman of UPSC on 22nd November 2014 after the tenure of then UPSC chairman Rajni Razdan came to an end.
27.The year 2015-16 will be observed as water conservation year in India. Recently, it was announced by the Water Resources, River Development and Ganga Rejuvenation Minister Uma Bharti while inaugurating an international seminar on water risk and water stewardship held at New Delhi.
To mark this conservation year, a public movement will be launched. The cooperation of state governments, NGOs, civil society, youth and retired personnel will be taken to meet efforts aimed at conserving water.
As per minister, public movement has become a necessity for conservation of water and river in the country as it is an important element of development.
28.Ministry of Environment and Forests (MoEF) has given in-principle approval to Union Home Ministry and Ministry for Road Transport and Highways for waiver of mandatory forest and environment clearances for construction of strategic roads and bridges along border.
This in-principle approval by MoEF was granted in order to expedite strategic border projects under the Forest (Conservation) Act, 1980 for diversion of forest land for creation of border security related infrastructure within five kilometres aerial distance from the International Border.
Earlier, Union Home Ministry had requested MoEF to exempt environment clearance for infrastructure projects falling within 100 km from Line of Control (LoC), Line of Actual Control (LAC) and International Border (IB).
In response to this request, MoEF has allowed diversion of land for setting up of surveillance equipment within 5 km from the International Border and 100 km from LAC.
Ministry of Road Transport and Highways also had requested MoEF to give environment and forest clearances at their respective state level in order to expedite these infrastructure projects along the States having borders.
The states mentioned were: Bihar, West Bengal, Arunachal Pradesh, Mizoram, Uttar Pradesh, Jammu & Kashmir, Rajasthan, Punjab and Gujarat.
MoEF gave approval to Ministry of Road Transport and Highways under Forest (Conservation) Act for creation of security related installations for all states having international border except to the state of Jammu & Kashmir as this Act do not extend to it.
Implications of this decision on strategic border projects
Paramilitary organisations like Border Security Force (BSF) and Sashastra Seema Bal (SSB) are the first line of defence along the IB. This approval will help them to meet their most of installations requirements such as border roads, fencing, Border Outposts, floodlights, surveillance and power infrastructure are required to be created along or near the IB.
Due to the inhospitable terrain along the LAC, installations of the Indo-Tibetan Border Police deployed along the LAC as first line defence, are required to be created at far away distance from the LAC. Now they can construct strategic installations within 100kms of LAC.
These strategic projects will help to tackle repeated incursions along LoC, LAC and IB.
29.US President Barack Obama will be the chief guest at the Republic Day parade on 26th January 2015. Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi had invited him for this occasion. By accepting PM Narendra Modi’s invitation, Mr. Barack Obama has become the first US President to attend India’s Republic Day celebrations as chief guest.
This visit of US President to India will help to strengthen and expand the US-India strategic partnership.
This will be US President Obama’s second visit to India during his tenure as the US President.
Last time Mr Obama had visited India in November 2010 during the UPA Government’s regime when Dr Manmohan Singh was the PM.
In 2010, Mr Obama’s stay in India was one of his longest foreign trips, during which he addressed a joint session of Parliament, declared a major policy shift and the support of United States for India’s permanent membership of an expanded UN Security Council.
Earlier Chief guests of Republic Day parade
2014- Shinzo Abe (Japanese Prime Minister).
2013- Jigme Khesar Namgyel Wangchuck (King of Bhutan).
2012- Yingluck Shinawatra (Then Prime Minister of Thailand).
2011- Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono(Then President of Indonesia).
30.Visitors from over 40 countries, including Germany, the US, Israel and Palestine, will soon be able to avail the electronic visa (E-Visa) facility of India. The tourism ministry along with the home ministry will launch the facility on 27th November 2014.
Key Facts
In order to get an e-Visa, foreigners/tourists would need to apply on the designated website along with the required fees.
Within 96 hours of applying on designated website, foreigners will be granted an electronic version of the visa.
The software arrangements needed for providing e-Visa Facility are now ready and would become operational at nine international airports – Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai, Kolkata, Hyderabad, Bengaluru, Kochi, Thiruvananthapuram and Goa.
As per the government decision, all countries, except a few in the prior list, would be brought into the e-visa regime over the next two years. But Government has barred a few countries from e-Visa Facility like Pakistan, Sudan, Afghanistan, Iran, Iraq, Nigeria, Sri Lanka and Somalia.
The countries which currently have Visa on Arrival (VOA) facility in India will also be covered under the new scheme.
All countries will be included under this facility in a phase-wise manner by 2015. Russia, Brazil, Germany, Thailand, UAE, Ukraine, Jordan, Norway and Mauritius, among others, would be getting the e-visa facility in the first phase.
31.India has clinched their third South Asian women’s football (SAFF) championship. This hatric win for India comes after defeating Nepal by 6-0 goals in a one-sided final match held in Islamabad. This is the first time that India has won SAFF Women’s Championship in Pakistan.
Ngangom Bala Devi of India was the star of the match as she scored 4 goals in the final match.
This win cements India’s place as the dominant force in women’s football in the region as they have won all three editions of the championship since it was launched in 2010. In all last three finals of this Championship, Nepal was been India’s companion and was defeated by India.
32.Kotak Mahindra Bank has announced that it would acquire Bengalaru-headquartered ING Vysya Bank in an all-stock deal. The deal will be final after regulatory approvals, including those from the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) and Competition Commission of India (CCI). The management of the banks expects that the new merged entity will be operational by April 1, 2015.The acquisition will help Kotak Mahindra Bank to widen its reach in South Indian market and also help in acquiring SME customers as ING Vysya Bank was having stronghold in SME customers. After merger the combined banking entity will have a widespread network of 1,214 branches across pan India.The deal will make Kotak the fourth-largest private bank in the country in terms of total business. The biggest three private banks are ICICI Bank, HDFC Bank and Axis Bank.
33.The Union cabinet has approved three major projects for the power sector. They are Deen Dayal Upadhyaya Gram Jyoti Yojana, Integrated Power Development Scheme and the North Eastern Region Power System Improvement Project.
Integrated Power Development Scheme (IPDS)
It aims to strengthen the transmission and distribution (T&D) networks, 100 per cent metering urban areas and smarten it with information technology.
In this scheme IT enablement will help in reduction in AT&C losses, establishment energy accounting /auditing system, improvement in billed energy based on metered consumption and improvement in collection efficiency.
Deendayal Upadhyaya Gram Jyoti Yojana(DDUGJY)
DDUGJY project is based on the Gujarat model of power reforms for feeder separation of agricultural and domestic usage and strengthening of T&D infrastructure in rural areas.This scheme aims to help in improving in hours of power supply in rural areas, reducing peak load, improving in billed energy based on metered consumption and providing access to electricity to rural households.
North Eastern Region Power System Improvement Project (NERPSIP)
NERPSIP is for six north eastern states viz Assam, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Tripura and Nagaland. It is meant for strengthening of the Intra State Transmission and Distribution System.This project will be taken up under a new Central Sector Plan Scheme of Ministry of Power (MoP) and implemented with the assistance of World Bank loan and the budget of MoP.
Implementation of this project will create a reliable State power grid and improve its connectivity to the upcoming load centres, and thus extend the benefits of the grid connected power to all the consumers.
It will also provide the required grid connectivity to such villages and towns of the six states, where development of distribution system at the downstream level has been taking place under previous Government of India’s (Gol) sponsored electrification schemes.
These projects are considered as major step towards meeting the NDA government’s national objective of “Power to All” by enhancing access of consumers to grid connected power supply through improving its availability and reliability. Power to All aims facilitating inclusive growth.
34.The Supreme Court has removed CBI Director Ranjit Sinha from 2G case investigation and ruled that CBI’s senior most officer will now oversee 2G probe after removal of Sinha from the case.
35.45th International Film Festival of India (IFFI) 2014, kicked-off at the Shyama Prasad Mukherjee indoor stadium, Panaji, Goa. During the opening ceremony two of the biggest stars of the Indian film industry, Amitabh Bachchan and Rajinikanth, came together. Amitabh Bachchan was the chief guest for the ceremony while Rajinikanth was honoured with the Centenary Award for the Film Personality of the Year.
36.The Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) has revamped the rules related to the Insider trading for the protection of the smaller investors. Insider trading refers to the trade of a company’s stocks or other securities and making unethical profits with access to the non-public information. This is detrimental to the other / small investors who don’t have such information.
The new rules align the insider trading rules to current international practices. The key changes are as follows:
The biggest problem under the current rules is that the burden of proof (whether a person indulged into insider trading) was on SEBI. It was very difficult to prove that someone was insider. In the new rules, the burden of proof is on the accused and not the regulator.
In the new rules, the definition of the term “insider” has been broadened. The new rules say that anyone who is in contractual, fiduciary or employment relations with the promoters will be presumed to be ‘insiders’. Thus, the new rules include the immediate relatives of promotes, directors and employees who are in possession or have access to such information, within the scope of insiders.
The new rules make it mandatory that the perpetual insiders such as promoters and directors will have to disclose their future trading plan in advance to the stock exchanges. They are required to trade strictly as per that plan.
The definition of the “price sensitive information” has been broadened. Earlier, it has reference to only to company but now, it will have reference to company as well as securities.The menace of Insider trading is not among the small firms but in big companies as well. It is a known fact that most of the profits are earned by the promoters and for SEBI it was very difficult to prove if someone was really an insider. The new rules give more teeth to SEBI to crack down on insider trading.
37.During his recent visit to Fiji, the Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi has announced Lines of Credit and development assistance of around USD 80 million for Fiji and. The Visa on Arrival (VoA) scheme has also been announced for all the 14 Pacific Island countries. A number of measures have also been announced to strengthen India’s relationships with Pacific Islands.
Narendra Modi is the first Indian Prime Minister to visit these Pacific countries after Indira Gandhi who visited in 1981.
38.Justice Nanavati Commission has submitted its final report on the 2002 Gujarat riots to state chief minister Anandiben Patel. The final report of the commission on the 2002 riots, in which more than 1,000 people, mostly of minority community, were killed, comes after extensive investigation which ran over a period of more than 12 years and has more than 2,000 pages.
39.Former India captain Dilip Vengsarkar has been selected for Col. CK Nayudu Lifetime Achievement Award as part of Board of Control for Cricket in India’s annual awards. He has been conferred with this prestigious Lifetime achievement award for his contribution to Indian cricket.
40.Indian American Neha Gupta, 18 has been awarded with the prestigious International Children’s Peace Prize 2014. Nobel Peace Laureate Desmond Tutu the patron of the Dutch children’s rights organization presented her with the award in The Hague, Netherlands.
2.National Milk Day was observed in Gujarat to mark 93rd birth anniversary of Dr.Verghese Kurien. It was the first of its kind initiative organized by all dairy majors to celebrate November 26 as National Milk Day in the memory Dr Verghese Kurien.World Milk Day: Globally, 1st June is annually celebrated as World Milk Day. In 2001, this day was designated by the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (UN-FAO).
It aims to publicize activities related to milk and milk industries and raise public awareness about the importance of milk and milk products for everyone throughout life.
3.Former Uttar Pradesh Chief Secretary Anoop Mishra, will be the new Secretary-General of the Lok Sabha. It was announced by the Lok Sabha Speaker Sumitra Mahajan. He will have the rank and status of Cabinet Secretary with effect from 1st December 2014 to 30th November 2016 or until further orders.
4.Rajya Sabha has passed Labour Laws Amendment Bill, 2011 which simplifies labour law procedures for establishments employing up to 40 workers. This bill amends the Labour Laws (Exemption from Furnishing Returns and Maintaining Registers by Certain Establishments) Amendment and Miscellaneous Provisions Act, 1988.
The Amendment Bill, proposes to change the original Act of 1988 by
Increasing the number of laws under which small establishments are exempted from furnishing returns and maintaining registers.
Amending the definition of “small” establishments to cover units employing between 10 to 40 workers as against the limit of 19 workers at present.
The seven Acts that are added to the list includes
Motor Transport Workers Act, 1961.
Payment of Bonus Act, 1965.
Inter-State Migrant Workmen (Regulation of Employment and Conditions of Service) Act, 1979
Building and Other Construction Workers (Regulation of Employment and Conditions of Service) Act, 1996.
Beedi and Cigar Workers (Conditions of Employment) Act, 1966.
Dock Workers (Safety, Health and Welfare) Act, 1986.
Child Labour (Prohibition and Regulation) Act, 1986.
The Bill also adds that the employer may maintain the returns filed and the registers on a computer, computer disk or other electronic media.
Background
The Act of 1988, defines “small establishments” as any place which employs between 10 and 19 people on any day of the preceding 12 months. A “very small establishment” is a place that employs nine or less people.
Under it, these small and very establishments are exempted from furnishing returns and maintaining registers under certain labour laws.
Small establishments were also exempted from furnishing returns and maintaining registers under certain laws.
Under the Act of 1988, the establishments were required to furnish returns and maintain registers in a specified format.
Thus this Amendment Bill seeks to widen the earlier Act to more establishments and adds more laws from which these establishments were exempted earlier.
5.The government has approved revival of 7 sick central PSUs through disinvestment or joint venture route. These companies have been chosen for revival based on the recommendations of Board for Reconstruction of Public Sector Enterprises (BRPSE). The sick CPSEs which will be revived include HMT Machine Tools and Tyre Corporation, Tungabhadra Steel Products, HMT Bearings, Richardson & Cruddas Ltd, Central Inland Water Transport Corp and Hoogly Docks & Port Engineers Ltd.
6.India and Nepal signed an agreement to construct a USD one billion hydropower plant on Arun River. It aims to generate 900-megawatt of electricity.
Key facts
India’s state-owned Satluj Jal Vidyut Nigam will construct the mega power plant.
It will start generation of power by 2021.
Nepal will receive around 22 per cent of the power generated from the plant free.
This project will help to meet some part of Nepal’s power demand as it is grappling with severe power shortage.
Thus by signing this agreement shows that India is has great interest in exploiting the abundant untapped hydropower resources of Nepal as it has vast network of fast-flowing rivers.
7.Haryana government has reduced retirement age of government employees from 60 to 58 years.
This decision was taken in cabinet meet headed by Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar. It was also announced that the upper age limit for fresh recruitment will remain 42 years. Earlier, Congress-led Bhupinder Singh Hooda government in Haryana had announced to increase retirement age for government staff from 58 to 60 years.
It was a populist decision announced by then Congress government just before the 15th October 2014 assembly election in the state.
8.Pakistani writer, Bilal Tanweer has won the 2014 Shakti Bhatt First Book Prize for his novel “The Scatter Here Is Too Great”. The award carries a cash component of Rs. 2 lakh.This year’s judges for Shakti Bhatt First Book Prize were authors Amit Chaudhuri, Aatish Taseer and Mridula Koshy (2009 winner of the Shakti Bhatt First Book Prize).
9.Government recently launched the ‘Swachh Bharat Kosh’- a fund that will be utilised to build toilets in schools, rural and urban areas to achieve the objective of cleanliness across the country.
It will seek to attract donations under Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) from Corporate Sector and contributions from individuals and philanthropists to achieve the objective of Clean India (Swachh Bharat) by the year 2019.
Key facts about ‘Swachh Bharat Kosh’
Objective: Funds will be used for improving cleanliness levels in rural and urban areas, including in schools. As a top priority, funds will be used to bring out innovative projects and girl toilets.
Governing Council: It will be under the Ministry of Finance and will be managed by a Governing Council headed by Expenditure Secretary.
Monitoring: Its functioning will be monitored on quarterly basis by the Finance Minister and by the Prime Minister from time-to-time.
Activities:
Projects under it will be implemented and carried out by the existing institutions at the state, district, and sub district level and no new institutions would be created.
These funds will finance activities such as construction of new toilets as well as repair and renovation of dysfunctional toilets in rural areas, urban areas, elementary, secondary and senior secondary government schools, aanganwaadis.
It will be also used for constructing water lines to the toilets, training and skill development to maintain hygiene in the toilets as well as other activities to improve sanitation.
Prime Minister himself will acknowledge contributions of over Rs 1 crore made by individuals and of over Rs 20 crore by corporates.
10.Kathak queen and legend Sitara Devi passed away. She was 94. She was living legend and a renowned exponent of the classical Indian dance Kathak and was well known for her own niche style of Kathak.
11.The “Hand-in-Hand 2014”- joint military exercise of India and China for Counter Insurgency (CI) and Counter Terrorism (CT) concluded in Pune, Maharashtra. In the concluding ceremony, defence establishments of both countries agreed to continue such friendship efforts in future.
This joint military exercise provided platform for both nations to join of hands which will help at the global level not only for peace, but also for prosperity.
The exercise had started in Aundh Camp, Pune on 16th November 2014. It was 12 days exercise between both countries.
12.President Pranab Mukherjee inaugurated First Commonwealth Science Conference (CSC) held in Bengaluru. It is organised for the first time in nearly after 50 years. Special guest at the inaugural event was Duke of York Prince Andrew.
This four-day conference is being organised by Royal Society, London and is supported by the Union Government, Queen Elizabeth Diamond Jubilee Trust and Bengaluru based Jawaharlal Nehru Centre for Advanced Scientific Research (JNCAR).
Indian scientist and Bharat Ratna awardee Prof C N R Rao, is co-chair of the steering committee of the conference.
13.Union Road Transport and Highways Minister Nitin Gadkari flagged off the Delhi-Kathmandu bus service from Delhi. This bus service aims to boost trade and tourism and will also strengthen the bilateral ties between India and Nepal.
14.Indian Women Boxer, Sarjubala Devi has won Silver medal in the World Women’s Boxing Championships held in Jeju City, Korea. In the final match of the 48kg division, she lost to Nazym Kyzaibay of Kazakhstan by 0-3.
15.The deadline to reach a comprehensive agreement for a Iran’s Nuclear Programme deal with six world powers i.e. P-6 or P-5 +1 countries has been extended to the end of June, 2015 after recent talks in Vienna, Austrian failed.
P-6 countries include the five permanent members of the UN Security Council viz., USA, Russia, China, UK, France and non- permanent member Germany.
Failure in the talks came after intensive five-day diplomatic push in Vienna involving the foreign ministers of Iran, the United States, Russia, China, Britain, France and Germany.
It is the second extension this year as Iran and P-6 nations failed to reach any agreement over Iran’s Nuclear Programme deadlock.
Now they have agreed to extend discussions, with the aim of reaching a high-level political agreement by 1 March, 2015 and confirming the full technical details of the agreement by 1 July, 2015.
Summary Background
There is decade long deadlock between Iran and Western countries over the issue of Iran’s Nuclear Programme and safety concerns of uranium enrichment.
Western Countries allegations: Western countries especially US is alleging Iran, that their Nuclear Programme may be used by them to produce enriched uranium to develop nuclear warheads.
Iran’s response: However, Iran has refused the allegations of western countries and has clearly mentioned that it is its sovereign right to continue its nuclear programme to their energy demand. Even they had mentioned that their Nuclear programme is completely peaceful and not for defence purpose.
P-6 countries want Iran to reduce its uranium enrichment programme to make sure it cannot produce nuclear warheads.
16.The UK Government has unveiled new package of counter-terror measures. This new package is part of UK’s new Counter Terrorism and Security Bill.
The counter-terror package includes tough new measures, including a ban on insurance companies covering the cost of terrorist ransoms and stripping teenage jehadis of their passport, to counter the growing threat of terrorism.
17.NDA Government has named National Security Advisor (NSA) Ajit Doval as India’s Special Representative (SR) for boundary talks with China. NSA Ajit Doval role of SR will be to conduct boundary negotiations and strategic consultations with China. This arrangement will be part of NSA’s overall assignment.
18.Former Union Minister and Senior Congress leader Murli Deora passed away after prolonged illness. He was 77. Mr. Deora, had held several important portfolios at local and national level politics during his decades-long political career.
19.India and the UNSECO have signed a letter of intent (LoI) for better cooperation in the field of reducing disaster risks and capacity-building In Earth Sciences. The LoI was signed between Ministry of Earth Sciences and UNESCO in the presence of Harsh Vardhan, Union Minister for Science & Technology and Earth Sciences and Irina Bokova, Director General, UNESCO.
20.Winter Session of Parliament began on 24th November 2014. It will continue till 23rd December 2014 and will have 22 sittings.
In the month-long winter session, NDA government which has promised big reforms in its first budget is looking to push the Insurance Bill as well as the Goods and Service Tax Bill.
21.Norway’s Magnus Carlsen retained his title of World chess champion by defeating Indian opponent Viswanathan Anand in the 11th round of their title match held in Sochi, Russia.Carlsen scored 6.5 points after the final match to retain the title by defeating his challenger Viswanathan Anand who had held this championship title from 2007 to 2013.
22.Two Kerala-born Indian Catholics Father Kuriakose Elias Chavara and Sister Euphrasia have been canonised by Pope Francis at St Peter’s Square in Vatican.
Pope Francis pronounced them as saints at a special mass held at St Peter’s Square, Vatican. The ceremony included a Latin hymn and a recommendation by a representative of the Congregation for the Saints. Earler, in April this year, Pope had cleared their names for sainthood.
With these canonisation of sainthood, the centuries-old Syro Malabar Church, Kerala now has three Saints, the first being Sister Alphonsa, who was declared a saint in 2008 by the Vatican.
23.Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar has inaugurated the Information Management and Analysis Centre (IMAC) located in Gurgaon. It is a joint initiative of Indian Navy, Coast Guard and Bharat Electronics Ltd to improve coastal surveillance and to provide coastal security to avert incidents like the 26/11 terror attack on Mumbai.
24.Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar has inaugurated the Information Management and Analysis Centre (IMAC) located in Gurgaon. It is a joint initiative of Indian Navy, Coast Guard and Bharat Electronics Ltd to improve coastal surveillance and to provide coastal security to avert incidents like the 26/11 terror attack on Mumbai.
25.China has partly commissioned its Zangmu Hydropower Station- largest hydropower station in Tibet, built on Yarlung Zangbo River- local name of Brahmaputra River. The first generating unit of the Zangmu Hydropower Station went into operation. Its reaming five generating units will start operation after completion this project next year i.e. 2015. China is also planning to build similar type of projects on Yarlung Zangbo River.
Key Facts about Zangmu Hydropower Station
The Zangmu Dam is a gravity dam currently under construction on the roaring Yarlung Zangbo River.
It is located 9 km northwest of Gyaca in Tibet- Autonomous Region of China and 3300 metres above sea level on the “roof of the world”.
The purpose of the dam is hydroelectric power production using run-of-the-river technology.
It is designed to generate 2.5 billion kilowatt hours of power annually and will have a total installed capacity of 510,000 kilowatts upon completion.
26.Government has appointed former IAS officer Deepak Gupta as a new chairman of the Union Public Service Commission (UPSC). He took over as the chairman of UPSC on 22nd November 2014 after the tenure of then UPSC chairman Rajni Razdan came to an end.
27.The year 2015-16 will be observed as water conservation year in India. Recently, it was announced by the Water Resources, River Development and Ganga Rejuvenation Minister Uma Bharti while inaugurating an international seminar on water risk and water stewardship held at New Delhi.
To mark this conservation year, a public movement will be launched. The cooperation of state governments, NGOs, civil society, youth and retired personnel will be taken to meet efforts aimed at conserving water.
As per minister, public movement has become a necessity for conservation of water and river in the country as it is an important element of development.
28.Ministry of Environment and Forests (MoEF) has given in-principle approval to Union Home Ministry and Ministry for Road Transport and Highways for waiver of mandatory forest and environment clearances for construction of strategic roads and bridges along border.
This in-principle approval by MoEF was granted in order to expedite strategic border projects under the Forest (Conservation) Act, 1980 for diversion of forest land for creation of border security related infrastructure within five kilometres aerial distance from the International Border.
Earlier, Union Home Ministry had requested MoEF to exempt environment clearance for infrastructure projects falling within 100 km from Line of Control (LoC), Line of Actual Control (LAC) and International Border (IB).
In response to this request, MoEF has allowed diversion of land for setting up of surveillance equipment within 5 km from the International Border and 100 km from LAC.
Ministry of Road Transport and Highways also had requested MoEF to give environment and forest clearances at their respective state level in order to expedite these infrastructure projects along the States having borders.
The states mentioned were: Bihar, West Bengal, Arunachal Pradesh, Mizoram, Uttar Pradesh, Jammu & Kashmir, Rajasthan, Punjab and Gujarat.
MoEF gave approval to Ministry of Road Transport and Highways under Forest (Conservation) Act for creation of security related installations for all states having international border except to the state of Jammu & Kashmir as this Act do not extend to it.
Implications of this decision on strategic border projects
Paramilitary organisations like Border Security Force (BSF) and Sashastra Seema Bal (SSB) are the first line of defence along the IB. This approval will help them to meet their most of installations requirements such as border roads, fencing, Border Outposts, floodlights, surveillance and power infrastructure are required to be created along or near the IB.
Due to the inhospitable terrain along the LAC, installations of the Indo-Tibetan Border Police deployed along the LAC as first line defence, are required to be created at far away distance from the LAC. Now they can construct strategic installations within 100kms of LAC.
These strategic projects will help to tackle repeated incursions along LoC, LAC and IB.
29.US President Barack Obama will be the chief guest at the Republic Day parade on 26th January 2015. Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi had invited him for this occasion. By accepting PM Narendra Modi’s invitation, Mr. Barack Obama has become the first US President to attend India’s Republic Day celebrations as chief guest.
This visit of US President to India will help to strengthen and expand the US-India strategic partnership.
This will be US President Obama’s second visit to India during his tenure as the US President.
Last time Mr Obama had visited India in November 2010 during the UPA Government’s regime when Dr Manmohan Singh was the PM.
In 2010, Mr Obama’s stay in India was one of his longest foreign trips, during which he addressed a joint session of Parliament, declared a major policy shift and the support of United States for India’s permanent membership of an expanded UN Security Council.
Earlier Chief guests of Republic Day parade
2014- Shinzo Abe (Japanese Prime Minister).
2013- Jigme Khesar Namgyel Wangchuck (King of Bhutan).
2012- Yingluck Shinawatra (Then Prime Minister of Thailand).
2011- Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono(Then President of Indonesia).
30.Visitors from over 40 countries, including Germany, the US, Israel and Palestine, will soon be able to avail the electronic visa (E-Visa) facility of India. The tourism ministry along with the home ministry will launch the facility on 27th November 2014.
Key Facts
In order to get an e-Visa, foreigners/tourists would need to apply on the designated website along with the required fees.
Within 96 hours of applying on designated website, foreigners will be granted an electronic version of the visa.
The software arrangements needed for providing e-Visa Facility are now ready and would become operational at nine international airports – Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai, Kolkata, Hyderabad, Bengaluru, Kochi, Thiruvananthapuram and Goa.
As per the government decision, all countries, except a few in the prior list, would be brought into the e-visa regime over the next two years. But Government has barred a few countries from e-Visa Facility like Pakistan, Sudan, Afghanistan, Iran, Iraq, Nigeria, Sri Lanka and Somalia.
The countries which currently have Visa on Arrival (VOA) facility in India will also be covered under the new scheme.
All countries will be included under this facility in a phase-wise manner by 2015. Russia, Brazil, Germany, Thailand, UAE, Ukraine, Jordan, Norway and Mauritius, among others, would be getting the e-visa facility in the first phase.
31.India has clinched their third South Asian women’s football (SAFF) championship. This hatric win for India comes after defeating Nepal by 6-0 goals in a one-sided final match held in Islamabad. This is the first time that India has won SAFF Women’s Championship in Pakistan.
Ngangom Bala Devi of India was the star of the match as she scored 4 goals in the final match.
This win cements India’s place as the dominant force in women’s football in the region as they have won all three editions of the championship since it was launched in 2010. In all last three finals of this Championship, Nepal was been India’s companion and was defeated by India.
32.Kotak Mahindra Bank has announced that it would acquire Bengalaru-headquartered ING Vysya Bank in an all-stock deal. The deal will be final after regulatory approvals, including those from the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) and Competition Commission of India (CCI). The management of the banks expects that the new merged entity will be operational by April 1, 2015.The acquisition will help Kotak Mahindra Bank to widen its reach in South Indian market and also help in acquiring SME customers as ING Vysya Bank was having stronghold in SME customers. After merger the combined banking entity will have a widespread network of 1,214 branches across pan India.The deal will make Kotak the fourth-largest private bank in the country in terms of total business. The biggest three private banks are ICICI Bank, HDFC Bank and Axis Bank.
33.The Union cabinet has approved three major projects for the power sector. They are Deen Dayal Upadhyaya Gram Jyoti Yojana, Integrated Power Development Scheme and the North Eastern Region Power System Improvement Project.
Integrated Power Development Scheme (IPDS)
It aims to strengthen the transmission and distribution (T&D) networks, 100 per cent metering urban areas and smarten it with information technology.
In this scheme IT enablement will help in reduction in AT&C losses, establishment energy accounting /auditing system, improvement in billed energy based on metered consumption and improvement in collection efficiency.
Deendayal Upadhyaya Gram Jyoti Yojana(DDUGJY)
DDUGJY project is based on the Gujarat model of power reforms for feeder separation of agricultural and domestic usage and strengthening of T&D infrastructure in rural areas.This scheme aims to help in improving in hours of power supply in rural areas, reducing peak load, improving in billed energy based on metered consumption and providing access to electricity to rural households.
North Eastern Region Power System Improvement Project (NERPSIP)
NERPSIP is for six north eastern states viz Assam, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Tripura and Nagaland. It is meant for strengthening of the Intra State Transmission and Distribution System.This project will be taken up under a new Central Sector Plan Scheme of Ministry of Power (MoP) and implemented with the assistance of World Bank loan and the budget of MoP.
Implementation of this project will create a reliable State power grid and improve its connectivity to the upcoming load centres, and thus extend the benefits of the grid connected power to all the consumers.
It will also provide the required grid connectivity to such villages and towns of the six states, where development of distribution system at the downstream level has been taking place under previous Government of India’s (Gol) sponsored electrification schemes.
These projects are considered as major step towards meeting the NDA government’s national objective of “Power to All” by enhancing access of consumers to grid connected power supply through improving its availability and reliability. Power to All aims facilitating inclusive growth.
34.The Supreme Court has removed CBI Director Ranjit Sinha from 2G case investigation and ruled that CBI’s senior most officer will now oversee 2G probe after removal of Sinha from the case.
35.45th International Film Festival of India (IFFI) 2014, kicked-off at the Shyama Prasad Mukherjee indoor stadium, Panaji, Goa. During the opening ceremony two of the biggest stars of the Indian film industry, Amitabh Bachchan and Rajinikanth, came together. Amitabh Bachchan was the chief guest for the ceremony while Rajinikanth was honoured with the Centenary Award for the Film Personality of the Year.
36.The Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) has revamped the rules related to the Insider trading for the protection of the smaller investors. Insider trading refers to the trade of a company’s stocks or other securities and making unethical profits with access to the non-public information. This is detrimental to the other / small investors who don’t have such information.
The new rules align the insider trading rules to current international practices. The key changes are as follows:
The biggest problem under the current rules is that the burden of proof (whether a person indulged into insider trading) was on SEBI. It was very difficult to prove that someone was insider. In the new rules, the burden of proof is on the accused and not the regulator.
In the new rules, the definition of the term “insider” has been broadened. The new rules say that anyone who is in contractual, fiduciary or employment relations with the promoters will be presumed to be ‘insiders’. Thus, the new rules include the immediate relatives of promotes, directors and employees who are in possession or have access to such information, within the scope of insiders.
The new rules make it mandatory that the perpetual insiders such as promoters and directors will have to disclose their future trading plan in advance to the stock exchanges. They are required to trade strictly as per that plan.
The definition of the “price sensitive information” has been broadened. Earlier, it has reference to only to company but now, it will have reference to company as well as securities.The menace of Insider trading is not among the small firms but in big companies as well. It is a known fact that most of the profits are earned by the promoters and for SEBI it was very difficult to prove if someone was really an insider. The new rules give more teeth to SEBI to crack down on insider trading.
37.During his recent visit to Fiji, the Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi has announced Lines of Credit and development assistance of around USD 80 million for Fiji and. The Visa on Arrival (VoA) scheme has also been announced for all the 14 Pacific Island countries. A number of measures have also been announced to strengthen India’s relationships with Pacific Islands.
Narendra Modi is the first Indian Prime Minister to visit these Pacific countries after Indira Gandhi who visited in 1981.
38.Justice Nanavati Commission has submitted its final report on the 2002 Gujarat riots to state chief minister Anandiben Patel. The final report of the commission on the 2002 riots, in which more than 1,000 people, mostly of minority community, were killed, comes after extensive investigation which ran over a period of more than 12 years and has more than 2,000 pages.
39.Former India captain Dilip Vengsarkar has been selected for Col. CK Nayudu Lifetime Achievement Award as part of Board of Control for Cricket in India’s annual awards. He has been conferred with this prestigious Lifetime achievement award for his contribution to Indian cricket.
40.Indian American Neha Gupta, 18 has been awarded with the prestigious International Children’s Peace Prize 2014. Nobel Peace Laureate Desmond Tutu the patron of the Dutch children’s rights organization presented her with the award in The Hague, Netherlands.