Current affairs 25/11/12 to 1/12/12

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1.BSE Carbonex- India’s first carbon-based thematic index launched.
The Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) launched, country’s first carbon based thematic index, BSE Carbonex, which will provide a strategic perspective of organizational commitment to climate change mitigation.
What is the aim of BSE Carbonex?
This index is introduced with an aim providing a benchmark, and increasing awareness about the dangers posed by climate change. It will enable investors to gauge the performance of the constituent companies of BSE-100 index regarding their commitment to greenhouse gases emission reduction. Constituents of BSE Carbonex are over or underweighted compared to the benchmark based on their performance in the assessment process. The assessment will be based on the carbon emission and carbon efficiency of companies. The index will encourage people to invest in companies performing well on the index thus promoting low carbon growth. The Index has been developed with the help of expertise from U.K.

2.Union Govt issues new guidelines to stop the misuse of Info Technology Act.
The Union government of India issued new guidelines to stop misuse of Section 66A of the Information Technology Act.
What are the new guidelines?
As per the new guidelines, the cases dealing with spreading messages of reported hatred by electronic medium will be decided by a senior police officer not below the rank of DCP in rural and urban areas. In metropolitan cities, approval from an IGP rank officer will be required for registration of cases relating to Section 66(a) of IT Act.

3.“INDRA”: India, Russia joint naval exercise.
India and Russia held joint naval exercise ‘INDRA’ in Mumbai. The exercise was held in 20003 for the first time and is being conducted every two years.

4.Shweta Bhatt to contest polls against Modi.
Congress is fielding Shweta Bhatt to contest against Narendra Modi from Maninagar for the Assembly elections.
Who is Shweta Bhatt?
Shweta Bhatt is the wife of the suspended IPS officer Sanjiv Bhatt. Sanjiv Bhatt is an Indian Police Service officer in Gujarat. He is known for his role in filing an affidavit in the Supreme Court of India against the Chief Minister of the Government of Gujarat, Narendra Modi, concerning Modi’s alleged role in the 2002 Gujarat riots.

5.Biggest Black hole ever known discovered in “galaxy NGC-1277”.
Astronomers have discovered most massive black hole ever known in a small galaxy NGC-1277 in the constellation of Perseus which about 250 million light-years from Earth. The black hole has a mass equivalent to 17 billion Suns.
The black hole bears around 14% mass of its host galaxy, compared with the 0.1 % a normal black hole.

6.UN Panel passes North Korea Resolution.
The Social, Humanitarian Cultural Affairs Committee (also referred as Third Committee of the UN General assembly) of United Nations overseeing human rights issues, passed a resolution on North Korea with consensus. The committee asked North Korea to solve the abduction issue and address human rights abuses.

7.Yeddyyurappa resigns from BJP and Karnataka Legislative Assembly.
Former Chief Minister of Karnataka B.S.Yeddyurappa gave resignation from Legislative Assembly and also renounced primary membership of BJP.

8.“Aapka Paisa, Aapke Haath”
Slogan for the Direct Cash Transfer scheme from Govt: Aapka Paisa, Aapke Haath (your money in your hands)
Direct Cash Transfer to beneficiaries of various welfare schemes by Govt.
Objective:
To remove the middlemen from the system
To check leakages from the system
Elimination of falsification and duplication with regard to subsidies
Give power of choice to beneficiaries, especially BPL
No delay in transfer of money to beneficiaries
Beneficiaries can access it themselves or via banking correspondents who are being set up in all the areas
Modus operandi of the scheme:
Banks would be the distribution point for cash subsidy initially
Subsidies would directly be electronically transferred to the bank accounts of the beneficiaries
The electronic cash transfers will be based on Aadhaar platform
Stages planned:
By January 1, 2013, 51 districts with high Aadhar penetration will be covered.
By December 2013, the entire nation will be covered
What are the challenges before Govt?
Since, the government is basing the entire exercise on banks and using technology transfer to directly benefit the people using Aadhaar platform. But the issues are:
Most BPL families don’t have bank accounts
Several villages don’t even have bank branches
At present, only about 10% of population has Aadhar cards
Trump Card for Congress?
NAREGA and waiving off farmers’ loans proved trump cards for Congress in the last election, this time the directly giving beneficiaries cash in their very own accounts may prove as Trump Card for Congress before next elections
Union Finance Minister P.Chidambaram called this scheme as a ‘game changer’
.


9.19 RRBs merged into 8; now 71 left.
The government has merged 19 Regional Rural Banks (RRBs) into 8 entities. All this happened in spite of reservations by RBI. The Govt plans to merge more RRBs this financial year.
RBI was not happy with this decision as the Finance Ministry didn’t took RBI into loop while making this decision.
At present the numbers are as follows:
RRBs = 71
PSBs = 26

10.PPP in railways allowed.
The government has allowed a private investment policy in the railways. The performance of Railways in PPP (Public-Private Partnership) projects has been dismal. Now, the Govt will try 5 different models for inviting private sector participation for last-mile connectivity projects in Railways. With this the government hopes it will be able to have speedier implementation of Railway projects. Public Private Partnership (PPP) models will attract funds for stalled and new projects of Railway.

11.Maldives cancels GMR’s $511m airport project.
Maldives has cancelled a USD 511 million deal with Indian firm GMR.
Maldives has also ordered Orders GMR to leave the country within 7 days.
India has warned Maldives to honor the legal contract.

12.Ms Chitra Ramakrishna to be new CEO & MD of NSE.
Leading bourse National Stock Exchange (NSE) announced Ms Chitra Ramakrishna as its new MD and CEO with effect from 1 April, 2013.
At present only two of the top 20 bourses globally (South Africa’s Johannesburg Stock Exchange and China’s Shenzhen Stock Exchange) have women CEOs.

13.200 nations meeting in Doha for talks on global warming.
Around 200 nations are meeting in Qatar capital Doha for the annual talks over global warming. The twenty years old talks over reducing greenhouse gas emissions have not yet fulfilled their main purpose.
The negotiators at Doha will focus on extending the Kyoto Protocol which was adopted in 1997, and is set to expire this year.

14.8th meeting of the India-UK Joint Working Group (JWG) on counter terrorism held in New Delhi.
The 8th meeting of the India-UK Joint Working Group (JWG) on counter terrorism was held in New Delhi. Both India and UK shared their respective threat assessments and informed each other of the measures taken by their governments in order to fortify counter terrorism policies and structures. Both sides also discussed the follow up on the Mumbai terror attacks of 26/11.
The next meeting of the India-UK JWG will be held in UK in 2013 on mutually agreed upon dates.

15.Gaza Cease-Fire Holds as Hamas Claims Victory.
After 8 days of a bloody conflict, cease fire returned to Gaza. This was brought about by negotiated Egypt along with USA. This was the worst cross-border fighting in four years b/w Hamas and the Israel.
Hamas, the Palestinian militant group formally claimed victory. Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh thanked Egypt, in particular its game-changing President, Mohamed Morsy, for brokering the ceasefire that ascertained that Gaza came out triumphant.

16.States free to keep Chief Ministers out of Lokayukta: RS Select Committee.
The Select Committee’s report on the Lokpal and Lokayukta Bill, 2011 was tabled in Rajya Sabha recently.
The report:
Makes it compulsory for States to enact a Lokayukta law within a year of the notification of the Central Act.
Gives states the freedom to decide the contours of their legislation.
Enables the States to use the choice of not including Chief Ministers or legislators within the scope of the Lokayuktas.

17.OVL to buy ConocoPhillips’ 8.4% stake in Kashagan field.
ONGC Videsh Ltd. (OVL) has finalized agreements for the acquisition of 8.40% Participating Interest (PI) of ConocoPhillips in the North Caspian Sea Production Sharing Agreement (NCSPSA), which included the Kashagan field in Kazakhstan.
Kashagan Field is an offshore oil field located in the northern part of the Caspian Sea close to the city of Atyrau in Kazakhstan. It is the world’s largest current development project.

18.ISRO planning for a six-tonne ‘K’ band satellite.
ISRO is planning to build/import six-tonne ‘K’band satellite.
Objective:
The K band will allow higher and faster data transmission on the Internet by at least 2-3 times what ISRO satellites offer at present
It will suit VSAT operators who support this traffic.
K band transponder can accommodate far more users more efficiently than ISRO’s older Ku band satellites.

19.India successfully test fired supersonic interceptor missile.
Giving a boost to Ballistic Missile Defence (BMD) capability, India successfully launched an interceptor missile to destroy an incoming target missile in a accurate hit at an altitude of 15 km over the Bay of Bengal. The target missile played as an incoming enemy missile with a range of more than 2,000 km.
In the test, the interceptor missile, Advanced Air Defence (AAD), which was fired from the Wheeler Island, successfully destroyed the ‘hostile’ missile which was fired from Launch Complex-3 at Chandipur.
The test is part of India’s plans to deploy a two-tiered BMD system to engage and destroy incoming enemy missiles in the endo-atmosphere and exo-atmopshere.
As per Scientists, the success of the test means that India’s Ballistic Missile Defence (BMD) programme in the endo-atmosphere (that is, below an altitude of 50 km) is now ready for deployment and the country is in a position to take it to the next phase of production and induction.

20.Jet Airways may get approval to join Star Alliance.
Jet Airways may get nod from Civil Aviation to join the Star Alliance with state-owned Air India.
What is Star Alliance?
Star Alliance is the world’s first and largest global airline alliance, headquartered in Frankfurt am Main, Germany. It was founded in 1997 by five founding airlines, Air Canada, Lufthansa, Scandinavian Airlines, Thai Airways International, and United Airlines. Star Alliance has since expanded and now has 28 member airlines with more than 21,100 daily departures combined. These flights reach 1,356 airports in 193 countries, with an annual passenger number of 678.5 million.

21.Vietnam does tit for tat by issuing stapled visas to Chinese passport holders.
Vietnam paid back in same terms what China did to Vietnam. The country issued stapled visas with for Chinese for passport holders on separate paper, to counter China’s map on its new e-passports showing disputed areas as part of its territory. Previously, China had issued passports with maps displaying islands in the South China Sea as part of Chinese territory.
Recently China issued passports with map showing Arunachal Pradesh and Aksai Chin as part of China for which the two countries are holding periodic talks to resolve the border dispute.
In reply to this, Indian Embassy started stamping the Chinese passports with official map of India.


22. ‘EKUVERIN 2012’: India, Maldives joint military training exercises.
Indian Army and the Maldives National Defence Force (MNDF) held joint military training exercise named EKUVERIN 2012 in Belgaum, Karnataka.

23.RINL’s navratna status extended by one year.
The Union Government extended ‘navaratna’ status to Rashtriya Ispat Nigam Ltd (Visakhapatnam Steel Plant) till November 2013. The government took into account the company’s performance, investment of huge amounts in expansion and plant modernisation and completion of all formalities for an IPO.

24.China successfully performs landing on aircraft carrier ‘The Liaoning’.
China successfully conducted first landing of a fighter jet on its first aircraft carrier ‘the Liaoning’. China purchased the aircraft carrier from Ukraine.
The successful flight landing also marked the debut of J-15 as China’s first generation multi-purpose carrier-borne fighter jet.

25.Dumping of N-waste at KGF ruled out.
The centre made it clear that it has no plans to dump Nuclear waste (N-waste) from Kudankulam Nuke Power plant in the defunct gold mines of Kolar Gold Fields (KGF) in Karnataka. The reported move by the Govt to dump the waste at the KGF was opposed by various political parties.
The team of experts clarified that since KGF lacks a rocky (granite) background and has waterlogging area, the site is not safe for dumping the N-waste.

26.BJP suspends Ram Jethmalani.
BJP suspended Ram Jethmalani from its membership for his constant fulminations against party chief Nitin Gadkari. The party referred his case to the party’s parliamentary board which is empowered to expel the Rajya Sabha MP.

27.Morsi under pressure to withdraw decree.
Pressure has increased on Egypt’s President Mohamed Morsi demanding withdrawal of powers he has given to protect himself and Islamist-led assembly writing a new constitution from a looming threat of dissolution by court order.
What powers Morsi decreed?
He declared that all presidential decisions would be immune from legal challenge.
He gave immunity to the committee writing the constitution from dissolution from court order.

28.NACP-IV targets zero infection, zero death and zero stigma.
National AIDS Control Programme-IV (NACP-IV) has targeted to reach zero infection, zero stigma and zero deaths. India has registered 56% decline in new infections.
National AIDS Control Programme-I (1992-1999): The main objective of the project was to slow the spread of HIV to reduce future morbidity, mortality, and the impact of AIDS by initiating a major effort in the prevention of HIV transmission.
National AIDS Control Programme Phase II (1999-2004) had the main objectives to reduce the spread of HIV infection in India; and Strengthen India’s capacity to respond to HIV/AIDS on a long-term basis.
NACP-III, launched in 2007, had set the goals of Halting and Reversing the epidemic by 2012.

29.DRDO setting up missile launch site in Machilipatnam.
The Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) is developing a new missile launch site in Machilipatnam in Andhra Pradesh at an estimated cost of Rs 1,000 crore.
Currently the launch facilities are at Chandipur and Wheeler Island locations in Balasore in Odisha.

30.Sebastian Vettel becomes youngest triple champion of F1.
25 year old Sebastian Vettel of Red Bull became Formula One’s youngest triple world champion at the Brazilian Grand Prix. The German, who needed only a fourth place to be sure of becoming the first driver to win his first three titles consecutively, finished 6th in the Brazillian Grand Prix.

31.Mount Tongariro in New Zealand erupts again.
Mount Tongariro, a volcano situated on New Zealand’s North Island, erupted for the second time this year.
Where exactly is Mount Tongariro?
Mount Tongariro is a compound volcano in the Taupo Volcanic Zone of the North Island of New Zealand.
Located 20 kilometres (12 mi) to the southwest of Lake Taupo, and is the northernmost of the three active volcanoes that dominate the landscape of the central North Island.

32.Pepsi won the five-year title sponsorship of the Indian Premier League (IPL). It replaced earlier sponsor DLF by paying Rs 396.8 crore ($71.93 million) which is almost double the amount DLF paid.

33.21st ASEAN summit ended in Cambodian capital, Phnom Penh.
The 21st ASEAN summit concluded in Phnom Penh, Cambodia. The summit was presided over by the PM of Cambodia, Hun Sen, as the Chairperson of the summit. The summit was centered on things like progress of the implementation of ASEAN Charter and Roadmap for an ASEAN community.
ASEAN Head of States appointed Le Luong Minh as the ASEAN’s upcoming Secretary General for the next 5 years. The nomination followed alphabetical rotation policy.

34.The former NBC Universal chief Jeff Zucker has been named president of CNN Worldwide on 29 November 2012.

35.Former Prime Minister of India, Inder Kumar Gujral, the head of unsteady coalition government in 1990s, died at the age of 92 following brief illness on 30 November 2012.

36.Infosys decided to transfer listing of American shares of the company from Nasdaq to NYSE or New York Stock Exchange, which is partner of the Paris as well as London exchanges. The trading market of NYSE known as NYSE Euronext, enables the European investors trading easily in the American shares of Infosys through the European exchanges.

37.A recently discovered colourful, freshwater species of fish known as Darters, was named after the re-elected US President Barack Obama in the first week of December 2012. The species of fish was named so because of Obama’s global vision towards environment conservation as well as protection.

38.Which Bank in India is often referred to as the ‘NH-4’ Bank ?
The Ratnakar Bank is often referred to as the ‘ NH4 Bank’ in the banking circles, .
Reason: As majority of the business of Ratnakar Bank comes from cities in and around the 1,235-km-long National Highway-4 (NH-4) that connects four of the 10 most populous cities in India.
The Kolhapur based private bank will keep serving the local community of traders, small businessmen and farmers while it now aims to become a pan-India player.