WBCS Current Affairs 19/09/2014 to 29/09/2014

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1.Cyberabad, the IT (information technology) corridor that houses some of the biggest IT companies, will have a police station staffed entirely by women. The police station will be opene in 10 days in an effort to ensure security of women employed in the thriving IT and ITeS (IT enabled services) sector in Andhra Pradesh. Women are believed to constitute approximately 25% of the 3.5 lakh persons employed in the IT/ITeS sector.

2.Former CAG Vinod Rai has stressed that there is a need for selection of CAG under a collegium system on the lines of the selection process employed for Election Commissioners, Information Commissioners and Vigilance Commissioners. This will ensure transparency in the selection process, according to him. He also stated that the powers of the CAG are substantial and sufficient for performance .

3.Bamiyan in Afghanistan is best known for two 6th century colossal statues of Buddhas , belonging to ancient Gandhara School of Art. These colossal buddha images were destroyed by Taliban in 2001.
In September 2014, Bamiyan has been given the honour of being the SAARC Cultural Capital for the year 2015-16. This was agreed upon at the SAARC Culture Ministers Conference, which also designated Dhaka as the cultural capital for the year 2016-17. Also, the year 2016-17 is to be the SAARC Year of Cultural Heritage. These developments are part of the efforts aimed at strengthening cultural ties among SAARC nations.They adopted the Delhi Resolution as a roadmap for cultural relations in the SAARC region for the period 2014–17.

4.India will contribute $10 mn to the UN Secretary-General’s Fund for Ebola, and an additional $2 mn is being allocated towards purchase of protective gear to tackle the virus, which has been declared a threat to international peace and security by the UNSC.

5.The stand-off at the Sino-Indian border at Ladakh, which escalated on the eve of Chinese President Xi Jinping’s visit to India was finally resolved when the Indian External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj met the Chinese Foreign Affairs Minister Wang Yi in New York, on the sidelines of the UNGA summit. The withdrawal of troops from Ladakh’s Chumar region is set to begin immediately and will be completed by the end of September.
The conflict between the two sides began when some Chinese workers who were building a road on their side of the border, crossed over to the Indian side and claimed that they had orders to construct a road up to Tible, which is around 5 kms into Indian territory. The situation escalated when both sides increased troop presence around that border.

6.Union government is planning to scrap the 5/20 Rule prevalent in the Indian aviation industry. Thus, Govt. plans to fulfill the demand of a few private airlines that want the rule to be relaxed.
5/20 Rule: As per this rule, a carrier must be 5-year-old and have at least 20 aircraft in its fleet before being permitted to fly abroad.

7.The renowned Hindi author, Mr. Govind Mishra received the Sarawasti Samman 2013 for his book “Dhool Paudho Par” published in 2008. The award made Mr. Mishra the second Hindi author to receive the honour after noted Indian poet Mr. Harivansh Rai Bachchan.

8.In order to make India a manufacturing hub, PM Narendra Modi launched the Make In India Campaign at Vigyan Bhawan in New Delhi. The promotion is intended to appeal foreign companies to set up their manufacturing units in India and to obtain larger foreign investment. P.M. Narendra Modi on his Independence Day speech had declared the Make in India policy.
The aim of the crusade is to get manufacturing sector to grow over 10% on a viable basis over a long run and to transform the economy from a Service-driven growth model to Labour-intensive manufacturing-driven growth. Thus, it will assist in creating jobs for over 10 million people, who join the workforce every year.
Via ‘Make In India’ campaign, the Union Government wishes to clear the disheartening image of complex rules and bureaucratic red tape of Indian administration. It will assist the global investors to promote their investment choices. This will assist in apprehending the objective of a liberalized economy.
As per the World Bank’s ease of doing business index, India ranks at very low at 134 (out of 189) nations in 2014. The ‘Make in India’ campaign will act as a guiding for foreign investors on all aspects of regulatory and policy issues and support them in attaining regulatory sanctions. The Government has already allowed 100% FDI under automatic route in construction, operation and maintenance in rail infrastructure projects.
The ‘Make In India’ places stress on 25 sectors with emphasis on job creation and skill development. These include: automobiles, chemicals, IT, pharmaceuticals, textiles, ports, aviation, leather, tourism and hospitality, wellness, railways, auto components, design manufacturing, renewable energy, mining, bio-technology, pharmaceuticals and electronics, etc.
Union Government released individual brochures for these sectors along with a general brochure. The brochures will offer details of growth drivers, investment opportunities, sector specific FDI and other policies and associated agencies.
Features of the ‘Make In India’ campaign
Govt to look into all regulatory processes to ease the load on investors.
A dedicated cell to answer enquiries from the business bodies via a freshly created web portal.
A.Q.s on the portal to assist investors find instant answers to their general queries
Back-end support team to answer specific enquiries within 72 hours
DIPP and FICCI have together set up an 8-member expert group to address enquiries and apprehensions of investors. They will explain Indian policies to the investors and propose reforms to the Central and states governments.
All Central government services are being integrated with an e-Biz single window online portal.
States recommended initiating the self-certification
The Union Ministry of Home Affairs has been asked to provide all security clearances to investment proposals within 3 months.
An advisory has been sent to all departments/ state governments to streamline and straighten out the regulatory environment.

9.Union Government announced 25 September as “Antyodya Diwas” to mark the 98th birth anniversary of Pandit Deendayal Upadhyay, a noted philosopher, historian and political activist. Several activities including blood donation camps, seminar, symposia were organised across the country.
Pandit Deendayal Upadhyay
Pandit Deendayal Upadhyaya (1916-68) was a well-known political personality and a thoughtful philosopher. He was a coordinator and a famous leader of Jan Sangh. He founded the Rashtra Dharma Prakashan publishing house in Lucknow and launched Rashtra Dharma, a monthly magazine, to advocate the principles he held sacred. Later he launched the weekly Panchjanya and the daily Swadesh. He wrote a drama Chandragupta Maurya in Hindi and later wrote a biography of Shankaracharya.

10.ICICI Bank launched ‘Smart Star’ account, a savings account for minors above 10 years of age. The account will be opened in the name of the minor and will offer kid with a tailored cheque-book and a debit card with a picture of his/ her choice. The permits minors to operate their accounts individually. This will benefit to teach kids a practice of saving and responsibility of spending sensibly.
Minors will be able to start several banking transactions including issuing cheques, paying bills, recharge mobile phones, open fixed deposits and recurring deposits amongst others. They will also have access to banking networks such as ATM, mobile, Internet banking, etc.

11.A five judge bench of the SC declared the National Tax Tribunal Act of 2005 as unconstitutional. The impugned legislation envisages creation of tribunals to deal with tax related cases only.
The law was declared unconstitutional on the grounds that it took away powers of the higher judiciary to determine questions of substantial law and reposed them in the Tribunals. The legislation surpassed the authority of the HC in an effort to clear the backlog of cases. An appeal from the National Tax Tribunal could be made to the SC but not the HC.
This judgment could have many grave repercussions, as now the constitutionality of other Tribunals like the Company Law Tribunal can also be called into question.

12.The DeitY (Department of Electronics and Information Technology) is working on creating a user friendly Indian email service on the lines of popular email service providers like Gmail and Yahoo. The serGovernment Working on New National E-Mail Servicevice will first be made available to the Central government, then the State government, and then to the citizens for communicating with the government.

13.Prime Minister Modi inaugurated a mega food park in Koravahalli village which is 25 km from 110 Acre Integrated Food Park Inaugurated In Tumkur. The park is set to be the largest of its kind in Karnataka and is expected to help farmers living within a radius of 250 kms of the park, especially in the areas of Kolar, Tumkur and Shimoga.

14.The Supreme Court (SC) has cancelled 214 coal block allocations out of the 218 that were under consideration. These allocations were made to various companies since 1993.
The Centre welcomed the SC decision and stated that its stand on the allegedly illegal coal block allocations was now vindicated. The government has been granted six months to ensure a smooth transition within which it will have to decide on the course of action to be followed.
The corporate world, however, was disappointed with the verdict with business leaders predicting decrease in domestic coal supplies causing supply disruptions and aggravation of the power crisis. It is also believed that this will dampen investor confidence.

15.The United Nations Security Council (UNSC) unanimously adopted Resolution No. 2178 (2014) at a special sitting of the UNSC where most members were represented by their heads of state and the meeting itself was chaired by President Obama.ScreenClip[22]
The resolution was passed under Chapter VII of the UN Charter which makes it binding on all member states. The resolution emphasizes on international cooperation to undertake counter terrorism measures to stop the ISIS threat. It places specific obligations on member states to take steps to stop the flow of foreign terrorist fighters (FTF) to the area of conflict. The resolution also calls upon the UN agencies to play their part in helping nations assess and curb the threat of FTF. The resolution is a milestone because it requires the member to take affirmative action to prevent recruitment and movement of FTF instead of merely condemning FTF.
Earlier, in August, Resolution No. 2170 (2014) was adopted by the UNSC which condemned violence and the abuse of human rights by extremist groups like ISIS in Iraq and Syria.

16.The Mars Orbiter Mission(MOM), or Mangalyaan was successfully inserted into Mars’ orbit on the 24th of September 2014 with the help of the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO). This gives India the distinction of not only being the first nation to send a satellite into Mars’ orbit in its first attempt, but also the first Asian nation to successfully send a satellite to Mars. This combined with the fact that MOM cost India only a tenth of what NASA incurred to insert its satellite into Mars’ orbit, makes this achievement a source of great pride to the nation.
India’s first interplanetary mission was launched from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre, Sriharikota on a PSLV (Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle) on the 5th of November 2013. The satellite, weighing around 1,350 kg was on an elliptical orbit around the Earth for a month before it set off towards Mars.
The objectives of the MOM are to study Mars’ surface features, mineral compositions and atmospheric conditions using indigenously developed instruments. The mission also serves to showcase India’s capabilities in indigenously developing, planning and launching an interplanetary mission. Apart from being a feat in itself, this latest milestone could help open up the highly lucrative space technology market to India.

17.Hardeep Singh Puri appointed as Secretary General of Independent Commission on Multilateralism (ICM). Hardeep Singh was former Ambassador and Permanent Representative of India to the UN.
Independent Commission on Multilateralism (ICM)
Independent Commission on Multilateralism (ICM) launched by International Peace Institute (IPI) is targeted at recognizing policy proposals to improve the multilateral system’s capacity to respond to developing global challenges. Former Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd will be chairperson of the ICM, Foreign Minister of Norway Borge Brende and Canadian Foreign Minister John Baird will be co-Chairpersons. The commission will be an all-inclusive two-year programme and it will be funded by the Canada and Norway governments.

18.The test fire of Hatf IX is in line with the Pakistan’s objective of developing a second strike capability if a catastrophic nuclear attack destroyed all its land-based weapons.
In line with above objective Pakistan has repeatedly tested Babur cruise missile their indigenously produced, nuclear-capable. It has a range of 640 km and can strike targets at land and sea.

19.Sukinda Chromite Mine of the Tata Steel in Odisha on 24 September 2014 won the Asian Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) Leadership Award. The Sukinda mine of Tata Steels won the award for Community Development. The award was presented by World CSR Congress at Dubai, UAE.

20.Hamas and Fatah on 25 September 2014 announced the deal to allow the Palestinian Authority (PA) government to operate in the Gaza Strip.
The deal allows the Palestinian Authority headed by Rami Hamdallah to immediately assume its responsibilities in the Gaza Strip and take control over the border crossings in the Gaza Strip, including the Rafah terminal.

21.Union Ministry of Heavy Industries and Public Enterprises on 25 September 2014 proposed the Union Cabinet to shut down six sick Central Public Sector Undertakings (CPSEs).The sick CPSEs include HMT Watches, HMT Barings, HMT Chinar Watch, Hindustan Photo Films, Hindustan Cables and Tungbhadra Steel.

22.Global rating agency Moody on 22 September 2014 released a report titled Indian Banks Could Need 26-37 billion US dollar in External Capital for Basel III Compliance.
In the report it revealed that 11 Indian public sector banks (PSBs) need to raise 26 to 37 billion US dollar in external capital in the financial year 2015 in order to meet the Basel-III capital adequacy norms by financial year 2019.
This projection of Moody is based on the assumption that there is a moderate recovery in India's GDP growth, and a gradual decline in nonperforming loans from current levels.
Main highlights of the report
• In rupee terms these banks will require additional 1.5 to 2.2 trillion rupees to fully comply with the Basel-III norms.
• A significant part of the required capital, around 800 - 900 billion rupees (or 13-15 billion US dollars) could be in the form of Additional Tier 1 (AT1) capital.
• Moody's notes that these PSBs constitute 62 percent of the net loans in the Indian banking system but barely meet the current minimum capital requirements. As a result PSBs will find it difficult to raise capital quickly in the current environment.
• The report further said that weak asset quality has led to depressed profitability and internal capital generation in PSBs. As a result, they have to rely on periodic capital injections from the government.
• It noted that PSBs could find it difficult to raise the required amount even if they tap the equity markets because of low valuation of these banks. Even the recent stock rally may not prove to be the saviour.
Basel-III Norms
Basel III raises the minimum required capital levels for both Tier 1 capital to 7.0 percent and Common Equity Tier 1 (CET1) capital to 5.5 percent. Besides, the banks will also need to meet a Capital Conservation Buffer in order to pay dividends. These will be pressurizing the Indian public-sector banks due to low capital levels remain a key credit weakness.

23.Emami biotech on 25 September 2014 acquired Vanaspati brand Rasoi. Emami biotech is the edible oil and bio-diesel arm of the Emami Group of Companies.
The deal is estimated to be worth around 20 crore rupees. This is Emami's second acquisition in three months and with this deal Emami makes entry into vanaspati segment.

24.About Vanaspati
India produces around 10-12 lakh tonnes per annum of vanaspati, out of which the premium branded vanaspati segment is about 4 lakh tonnes per annum.
Vanaspati is an affordable variety of cooking medium which is used in households, restaurants, sweet shops as an economical alternative to ghee. It is also a popular cooking medium in household segment, especially in regions like UP, Bihar, North East, and Jharkhand, etc.
About Rasoi
Kolkata based Rasoi limited is the brand of the 50 year old Vanaspati. Rasoi is one of the most trusted brands of Vanaspati and edible oil in India. Rasoi, as a major player in the vanaspati market, has a strong base in the eastern region and is the leading vanaspati brand in West Bengal. As an age-old brand, Rasoi enjoys huge consumer trust.

25.Union government on 25 September 2014 launched Deen Dayal Upadhyaya Grameen Kaushalya Yojana. The Yojana was launched by Nitin Gadkari, Union Minister for Rural Development during the National Convention on Skills for Rural and Urban Poor held in New Delhi.
The Yojana was launched during the 98th birth anniversary of Pandit Deendayal Upadhyay. Earlier the Yojana was known as Aajeevika Skills Development Programme (ASDP).
Main Highlights of the Yojana
The Yojana aims at training 10 lakh (1 million) rural youths for jobs in three years, that is, by 2017.
The minimum age for entry under the Yojana is 15 years compared to 18 years under the Aajeevika Skills Programme.
Skill development training centres to be launched so as to address the unemployment problem in the rural area.
The skills imparted under the Yojana will now be benchmarked against international standards and will complement the Prime Minister’s Make In India campaign.
The Kaushalya Yojana will also the address the need for imparting training to the differently-able persons and chip in private players including international players to impart the skills to the rural youths.

26.Former U.S. spy agency contractor Edward Snowden and Alan Rusbridger, editor of The Guardian on 24 September 2014 won Right Livelihood Award. The award was shared between the two.
The Right Livelihood Award is also known as Alternative Nobel prize of Sweden.

27.The Union Cabinet chaired by the Prime Minister Narendra Modi on 24 September 2014 approved the India-Nepal Agreement on Electric Power Trade, Cross-Border Transmission Interconnection and Grid Connectivity.
The approval will facilitate and strengthen cross-border electricity transmission grid connectivity and power trade between the two countries.
The agreement would also provide a framework for imports, by Indian entities, of surplus power generated from future hydroelectric plants in Nepal, on mutually acceptable terms and conditions.
Nepal currently imports 200 MW of electricity from India annually. Besides, the constructions of the new cross-border transmission lines that are under construction will more than double the transmission capacity over the next two years.

28.The report on Customer Service in Banks by a committee chaired by M. Damodaran, former Chairman of the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) was released on 3 July 2011. The Reserve Bank of India panel recommended an increased deposit insurance cover of Rs.5 lakh so as to encourage individuals to keep all their deposits in banks. The Damodaran panel mentioned that in case of sick banks, a possibility to enable customers to immediately avail themselves of a part of their insured deposits before the final fate of sick banks is decided should be explored.

29.Former Supreme Court Judge Justice Shivraj V Patil was sworn in as the new Lokayukta of Karnataka on 3 August 2011. The oath was administered by Governor H R Bhardwaj at Raj Bhavan. Justice Patil succeeded Justice N Santosh Hegde who vacated office after completing eventful five-year tenure.