Current Affairs - JANUARY 24 2014

Current Affairs

JANUARY 24 2014

International Affairs

1. UNWTO awarded CNN’s Richard Quest with the 2013 UNWTO Award for Lifetime Achievement. The award was given in recognition of his work as a business journalist reporting on the tourism industry.

The UNWTO Award for Lifetime Achievement was presented during the UNWTO Awards Ceremony held in Madrid, Spain on 22^nd January. Richard Quest is the presenter of CNN’s flagship daily business programme Quest Means Business and the monthly CNN Business Traveller, regularly covering business affairs from around the world.

2. China’s Lenovo – the world’s biggest PC maker – has agreed to acquire IBM’s low-end server business for USD 2.3 billion. About USD 2 billion will be paid in cash with the rest in Lenovo stock. Whlie IBM is selling its x86 “low-end” server business, which includes the System x, BladeCenter and Flex System products, it is retaining its powerful mainframe and storage business. Lenovo bought IBM’s PC business in 2005.

National Affairs

3. National Girl Child Day is celebrated today (24^th January) across India to ensure that every girl is respected, valued and treated equally in society. This day is observed every year to raise awareness and consciousness towards the girl child.

ii. The aim is to ensure that every girl is respected, valued and treated equally in society.

iii. On this day, the Women and Child Development Ministry takes up a multi-pronged approach for addressing as well as working towards diminishing the child sex ratio in India.

iv. Earlier on 22 January 2014, the India Post launched a special savings scheme for the girl child between 10 and 20 in age of India.

v. The scheme has asked the parents of girls to open a Savings Bank account. It says that the parents can open
• Recurring Deposit (RD)
• Monthly Income Scheme (MIS)
• Fixed Deposits
• And can also buy National Savings Certificate (NSC)

4. DMK suspended Mr. Alagiri, the son of DMK Chief Mr. M. Karunanidhi from being a member of the party and also relieved him of the party posts today. The reason for the removal was stated that Mr. Alagiri who was holding the post of DMK ‘s South Zone Organising Secretary was indulging in creating confusion and disorder within the party. The Party has also said that action had been taken against many party workers indulging in anti-party activities.

5. Alok Sinha, Joint Secretary- Ministry of Civil Aviation, has been appointed as the Chairman of Airports Authority of India (AAI), who has been given additional charge of the new post. He replaced V P Agarwal who was removed from the Chairman post. The move comes as the Government has set on fast track the move to involve the private sector in the modernisation of six airports including those in Chennai and Kolkata.

6. Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw of the country’s largest biotech research firm, Biocon Ltd, has been named winner of the 2014 Othmer Gold Medal, It is a top award of the US-based Chemical Heritage Foundation. The Philadelphia-based Foundation is a collections-based non-profit organisation that preserves the history and heritage of chemistry, chemical engineering, and related sciences and technologies. The collections are used to create a body of original scholarship that illuminates chemistry’s role in shaping society.

Awards

7. PM gives away National Bravery Awards to children

i. Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh gave away National Bravery awards for the year 2013 to children from various parts of the country in New Delhi today.

ii. The award is given for showing exceptional grit and bravery in adverse situation. Speaking on the occasion, Dr Singh told the award winners that they are an inspiration to both their own generation and the nation. UPA Chairperson Sonia Gandhi, Women and Child Development Minister Krishna Tirath were also present on the occasion.

iii. 25 children from various States, including Uttar Pradesh, Delhi, Chattisgarh, Manipur, Madhya Pradesh and Jammu and Kashmir won the National Bravery awards.

iv. The awardees include nine girls. Five children were awarded posthumously. The award winning children will be part of Republic Day Parade at Rajpath on Sunday.

8. Kerala wins UN award for sustainable tourism

i. Kerala Tourism has been conferred the United Nations Award for creating innovative initiatives for sustainable tourism, the first time India has ever won the recognition.

ii. The state lifted the coveted honour for its sustainable development initiative in the world renowned backwater resort of Kumarakom, a Kerala tourism release said on Thursday.

iii. Kerala Tourism bagged the honour at the annual United Nations World Tourism Organisation (UNWTO) Awards for Excellence and Innovation in Tourism presented atMadrid in Spain.

iv. Kerala won the UNWTO Ulysses Award for Innovation in Public Policy and Governance, the highest honour given to the government bodies for shaping global tourism policies through innovative initiatives.

v. Instituted in 2003 by UNWTO, the United Nations agency for the promotion of responsible, sustainable and universally accessible tourism, the UNWTO Awards showcase innovation and application of knowledge in tourism with the aim of effecting governance and society.

Science and technology

9. India and France jointly building 3rd satellite

i. India and France are working on building the third Indo-French satellite designed for climate change studies, a senior French official said on Thursday.

ii. The new satellite being built jointly by Indian Space Research Organisation and National Centre for Space Studies (CNES) of France would be a state-of-the-art satellite for earth observation for climate change, Weiss said.

iii. The final shape to the proposed project is scheduled to be given by next March when Indian and French scientists will hold a “big” meeting in France, Weiss said.

iv. India is the one of the most important countries of cooperation for France. Both countries have plenty of things to do together,” he added.

10. Viscera test must in death due to poisoning: SC

i. A bench of Justices Ranjana P Desai and J Chelameswar ruled that in all the cases where poisoning is suspected, immediately after the post-mortem, the viscera should be sent to the forensic science laboratories (FSL).

ii. The prosecuting agencies should ensure that the viscera is, in fact, sent to the FSL for examination and the FSL should ensure that the viscera is examined immediately and report is sent to the investigating agencies/courts post haste.

iii. The court took serious note of a number of cases relating to death by poisoning which resulted in acquittal mainly because police failed to seek a viscera examination from forensic science laboratories (FSL).

About Viscera test

i. In the Viscera test the internal organs of the body, specifically those within the chest (as the heart or lungs) or abdomen (as the liver, pancreas or intestines) are tested thoroughly.

ii. The Forensic Science Laboratories provide scientific assistance in crime investigationby way of examination of blood, semen, stains thereof and other.

Banking awareness

11. New RBI guidelines for loan restructuring norms by NBFCs

i. In order to minimise the risk of defaults, RBI has issued revised guidelines for loan restructuring norms by non-banking financial companies, NBFCs.

ii. In a notification issued from Mumbai yesterday, RBI said that rules for restructuring loans by NBFCs will be the same as those of banks.

iii. The key provisions include that the relaxation or extension of commencement of projects will not amount to restructuring for infrastructure, non-infrastructure and corporate real estate projects.

iv. RBI, further, said that a special classification benefit will be provided to corporatedebt restructuring cases, including small and medium enterprises. The benefit will, however, be withdrawn with effect from April 1 next year.

12. SBI launches Youtube channel; Twitter handle next

i. Nation’s largest lender State Bank of India on Friday strengthened its social media presence with the launch of its channel on popular video sharing website Youtube and said it will also be launching its handle on the micro-blogging site Twitter soon.

ii. The YouTube channel is another platform that will enable us to connect with our customers. SBI will continue to spread its footprint on social media through the launch of platforms like Twitter, shortly,” Chairperson Arundhati Bhattacharya said in a statement.

iii. SBI, which controls around a fourth of the deposits in the system, is one of the oldest financial institutions in the country with an over 200 years of history.

iv. It has over 15,000 branches and over 43,000 ATMs. The bank statement said the Youtube channel will help it connect with the young and technologically savvy customers.

13. Favour free ATM services: Finance Services Secretary Takru

i. Financial services secretary Rajiv Takru has said that he favours free ATM services as they exist now.

ii. Speaking to reporters in Mumbai on Thursday, Mr. Takru said that if these services are made expensive then customers may end up at bank counters and warned that a teller service is far more expensive than ATM service.

iii. He however clarified that no bank has approached the government seeking approval to raise ATM fees and said that a final decision in this regard will be taken by RBI.

iii. Admitting that ATM services should be sustainable, Mr. Takru said banks should look at ways to encourage customers to increase their ATM usage so as to make them profitable. Mr. Takru also called for a re-look at orders of some state governments asking banks to have round-the-clock security at ATMs.

14. B K Divakara has taken charge as Executive Director of Central Bank of India. Following his appointment, Central Bank of India now has three EDs, B K Divakara  along with Raj Kumar Goyal and Animesh Chauhan. Prior this appointment, he was a General Manager with Corporation Bank at its Head Office in Mangalore.

Economy

15. Economic growth in India projected at 5.35% in 2014, says UN report

i. India’s economy is projected to grow at a slower-than-expected rate of 5.3 per cent this year, according to a United Nations report which said the country’s slowdown may have bottomed out.

ii. The UN World Economic Situation and Prospects 2014 (WESP) report said a mild recovery in investment as well as stronger export growth will help in the gradual GDP pick-up.

iii. Full-year growth decelerated to 4.8 per cent in 2013 from 5.1 per cent in the calendar year 2012.

iv. The report further said that global economic growth is expected to increase over the next two years with continuing signs of improvement.

v. The global economy is projected to grow at a pace of 3 per cent in 2014 and 3.3 per cent in 2015, compared to an estimated growth of 2.1 per cent in 2013.

Sports

16. Sania Mirza and her Romanian partner Horia Tecau advanced into the mixed-doubles finals in the Australian Open tournament today after defeating defending champion Aussie pair of Jarmila Gajdosova and Matthew Ebden 2-6, 6-3 (10-2). They will now meet French Kristina Mladenovic and her Canadian partner Daniel Nestor in the finals tomorrow.

17. Australian Open: Errani-Vinci retain women’s doubles title

i. Top seeds Sara Errani and Roberta Vinci of Italy produced a great escape on Friday as they beat Russia’s Ekaterina Makarova and Elena Vesnina 6-4 3-6 7-5 to retain the Australian Open women’s doubles title.

ii. The Russian third seeds led 5-2 in the decider before Errani and Vinci roared back to clinch their fourth grand slam title and retain their world number one ranking.

18. Rafael Nadal beats Roger Federer to set up final with Stanislas Wawrinka

i. World No 1 Rafael Nadal proves too strong for his great rival Roger Federer, finishing a comfortable 7-6 (7/4), 6-3, 6-3 winner

ii. This was Nadal’s 23rd victory in the series, and also his heaviest over Federer in any grand slam other than Roland Garros.

iii. Nadal will now play final with with Stanislas Wawrinka

19. FIFA have named a track by Pitbull and Jennifer Lopez as the official anthem for the 2014 World Cup in Brazil. We Are One (Ole Ola), which also features Brazilian singer Claudia Leitte, will be performed at the opening ceremony at the Arena de Sao Paulo on the 12th of June.

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