Current Affairs January 30, 2014

Current Affairs

January 30, 2014

National Affairs

1. India remembered Mahatma Gandhi on his 66th death anniversary today with President Pranab Mukherjee and Prime Minister Manmohan Singh leading the country in paying homage to the Father of the Nation. Mukherjee, Vice-President Hamid Ansari and Singh paid floral tributes at Gandhi’s memorial in Rajghat in Delhi. Senior Congress and BJP leaders along with Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal paid tributes to Mahatma Gandhi at his memorial.

2.  Cabinet approves quota hike of subsidised LPG cylinders to 12

i. Days after Rahul Gandhi demanded, at a mega Congress conclave, that the quota of subsidised LPG per household be raised from nine to 12 cylinders a year, the Union Cabinet has today approved the proposal. 

ii. The move will cover 97 per cent consumers and it is expected to inflate the government's subsidy bill by 5000 crore rupees, Oil Minister Veerappa Moily said today. The government currently spends Rs.46,000 crore a year on LPG subsidy, at a time when the economy is struggling with slow growth and high inflation.

iii. Congress Vice-President Rahul Gandhi had said at a party meet in Delhi earlier this month, "Pradhan Mantriji (Prime Minister, Sir), we cannot make do with just nine subsidized cylinders of cooking gas. Women in this country need more. We need 12 per family, sir, please increase the quota."

iv. Several Congress MPs have also been pushing for the rollback; leaders reckon that the populist move will stand the party in good stead in the general elections, due by May.  

3. Arun Kumar Gupta has assumed charge as the Chairman and Managing Director of Shipping Corporation of India (SCI), a navratna public sector undertaking under the aegis of the Ministry of Shipping.  He joined the company in 1976 and he has the experience of working at the senior management level of SCI, which includes serving as Director, Irano-Hind Shipping Company, at Tehran with additional charge of safety and quality department for a period of over three years.

4. US auto major has appointed Nigel Harris as President of its Indian business replacing the incumbent Joginder Singh. Harris, Vice President Sales and Service, Ford Asia Pacific, has been appointed as President, Ford India effective February 1, 2014. Singh will repatriate to US as Director Corporate Strategy, Ford Motor Company.

5.    Country's first monorail to roll out from Mumbai on Feb 2^nd

i. The much-awaited country’s first monorail is all set to roll out in Mumbai from Feb 2.

ii. The Chief Minister of Maharashtra Prithviraj Chavan will officially launch the first phase of the monorail project between Chembur and Wadala on February 1.

iii. The fully air-conditioned monorail’s minimum fare will five rupess while, maximum fare will be twenty rupees. He added that it has a capacity to 20,000 passengers per hour. Initially the frequency of train will be after every 15 minutes.

iv. Earlier, this month the state urban development authorities have given their safety nod to monorail’s commercial operations. 

vi. The official informed that the 9 km long first phase of monorail from Wadala to Chembur will have seven stations.

6.  India has 37 per cent of the world's illiterate adults

i. India has by far the largest population of illiterate adults -- 287 million or 37 percent of the global total, said a report released on Wednesday.

ii. The "EFA Global Monitoring Report, 2013-14: Teaching and Learning: Achieving Quality for All", commissioned by the UNESCO, said 10 countries (including India) account for 557 million or 72 per cent of the global population of illiterate adults.

iii. "India's literacy rate rose from 48 per cent in 1991 to 63 per cent in 2006, (the latest year for which data was available), but population growth cancelled the gains. So there was no change in the number of illiterate adults," the report said.

iv. The report said that without attracting and adequately training enough teachers, the learning crisis will "last for several generations and hit the disadvantaged the hardest".

v. "It leaves one in four young people in poor countries unable to read a single sentence, affecting one-third of young women in South and West Asia," it said.
vi. The countries include Bhutan, India, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and Afghanistan.

vii. At the report launch, Delhi Education Minister Manish Sisodia said it was essential to change the content in our textbooks, so that the "future generation is more aware" about the various issues prevalent in society.

7. India ranks 16th among the top 20 global economies receiving the most FDI as per the latest report by the United Nations. India received USD 28 billion as FDI in 2013 which is 17% more than the previous year.

8. India (Goa) emerges overall champions with a rich haul of 92 medals (37 Gold, 27 Silver and 28 Bronze) in the recently (Jan 2014) concluded 3rd Lusofonia Games 2014 held in Goa.  

More:

• Portugal and Macau (China) finished 2nd and 3rd respectively in this edition of the 'Portuguese Commonwealth Games' that featured 12 Portuguese Commonwealth countries. 
• The games were marred by the allegation that the standard and level of competition was lower than the previous two as most of the countries did not send their best athletes.
• Brazil and Sri Lanka had also put in bids to stage the event but lost out to eventual winner India (Goa).
• Macau (China) and Lisbon (Portugal) had hosted the first two editions of this even in 2006 and 2009 respectively.
• Mascot of the games was a rooster named Jojo

Medal Tally

• India: 92 (Gold 37, Silver 27 and Bronze 28)
• Portugal: 50 (Gold 18, Silver 20 and Bronze 12)    
• Macau: 38 (Gold 15, Silver 9 and Bronze 14)    
• Sri Lanka: 31 (Gold 7, Silver 11 and Bronze 13)    
• Angola: 27 (Gold 5, Silver 8 and Bronze 14)    
• Mozambique: 13 (Gold 4 Silver 4 and Bronze 5)    
• Brazil: 6 (Gold 2, Silver 1 and Bronze 3)    
• Guinea-Bissau: 3 (Gold 2, Silver 1 and Bronze 0)    
• Cape Verde: 12 (Gold 1, Silver 6 and Bronze 5)    
• Sao Tome And Principe: 1 (Gold 0, Silver 1    and Bronze 0)    
• Timor-Leste: 1 (Gold 0, Silver 0 and Bronze 1)

International Affairs

9. The US economy grew by 3.2% in the final quarter of 2013 compared to same quarter last year. US economy is also expected to grow at the strongest pace since the end of US recession in 2009. Due to this optimism and improvement of job market scenario, the Fed announced that it would cut monthly bond purchases by USD 10 billion.

10. US tops the International Intellectual Property (IP) Index followed by UK and France. The report is prepared by the Global Intellectual Property Center (GIPC) of the US Chamber of Commerce which maps the IP environment of 25 major economies in the world across 30 categories. 

11.    India-Saudi Arabia to double bilateral trade over next 5 years

i. India and Saudi Arabia have decided to enhance their bilateral trade and economic co-operation. Both the countries have urged the public and private sectors to build strong partnerships in different fields.

ii. The 10th India-Saudi Arabia Joint Commission met in Riyadh during January 27-28 under the chairmanship of the finance minister P. Chidambaram and his Saudi counterpart.

iii. It was decided at the JCM to form a Joint technical team to promote cooperation in the field of oil, gas and minerals. The JCM called for the participation of Indian pharmaceutical firms in Saudi Arabia and finding the ways to make Indian companies eligible for Saudi projects.

iv. The JCM agreed on several measures to give a boost to the ties. Both sides also reviewed progress made in the India - Saudi Strategic Partnership which called for deeper engagement in political, economic, security and defence sectors.

v. An India Saudi Investment Fund will be set up in a time bound manner. Enhanced cooperation in all security fields and exchange of information, especially in organized crimes, money laundering and drug smuggling have been agreed to.

vi. India offered its expertise in Development of IT Parks; Development of Telemedicine network and the promotion of Indian ICT products and services.

Banking Affairs

12.    RBI doubles sub-limit for FIs in govt securities

i. The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has doubled the sub-limit for foreign investment in government securities, to USD 10 billionby long-term investors.

ii. RBI's move is aimed to attract more foreign funds. Investors like sovereign wealth funds (SWFs), multilateral agencies, insurance funds, pension funds and foreign central banks are considered as long term investors.

iii. In a notification issued from Mumbai on Wednesday the RBI said the decision taken in consultation with the government will be applicable with immediate effect.

iv. However, the total limit of USD 30 billion available for foreign investments in government securities has not been tinkered with.

v. The RBI has made it clear that the operational guidelines in this regard will be issued by SEBI.

Note:

 i. Earlier, the sub-limit for long term investors registered with SEBI was USD 5 billion.

ii. Foreign institutional investors(FIIs) - qualified foreign investors (QFIs) and long-term investors - registered with market watchdog SEBI are allowed to purchase government securities and non-convertible debentures (NCDs) or bonds issued by Indian companies within the limit of USD 30 billion.

13.  TRAI released Working Guidelines for Spectrum Trading

i. Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) released working guidelines for trade of spectrum on 28 January 2014. The guidelines need to be approved by the government before it can be implemented.

Main Working Guidelines are: 

• Only outright transfers of airwaves have been permitted from the seller to the buyer.
• While no permission will be required from the government for trading of spectrum, the regulator has mandated that both the seller and the buyer will have to inform the licensor six weeks before the trade takes place.
• Only that spectrum will be allowed to put up for trade for which the companies have paid a market determined price, and trade of spectrum will be on a pan-licensed service area basis.
• While the transaction will be between two parties–buyer and seller the regulator has provided that the seller has the flexibility to choose the prospective buyer of its spectrum through mechanism such as tender or auction.

Awards

14. Anand Kumar, the founder of Super30 got Ramanujan Mathematics award

i. Anand Kumar, a mathematician and founder of Super30 classes was conferred with the 2014 Ramanujan Mathematics Award in Rajkot on 27 January 2014.

ii.The award was given to him at the Eighth National Mathematics Convention organised in Rajkot.

iii. As award, he was presented a cash award of 20000 rupees by the Pitamber Patel, an Atomic scientist and JJ Rawal, a scientist.

About Ramanujan Mathematics Award
• Ramanujan Mathematics Award is an annual award that is given to a person who has at least three papers published in international journals and is involved in teaching mathematics.
• Ramanujan Prize was first awarded in 2005 to Marcelo Viana from Brazil
• Other Indian to be awarded with the prize is Ramdorai Sujatha, India in 2006

15. The US Federal Reserve announced a USD 10 billion reduction in its monthly bond purchases from USD 75 billion to USD 65 billion in final meeting for outgoing Fed chairman Ben Bernanke. This is the second straight month of reducing stimulus efforts. The Fed left its overnight interest rate unchanged at 0% – the level it has been at since December 2008. Most of the stock markets including China, Japan and India were down following the news bond purchase cut.

Business and Economy

16. Bharti Airtel promotes Gopal Vittal as MD & CEO of its India and South Asia operations. He, currently the joint MD and CEO (India) of Bharti Airtel, will join as such in April 2014.

17.  Ajoy Misra elevated as the CEO and MD of Tata Global Beverages Limited

i. Ajoy Misra has been appointed as the CEO and Managing Director of Tata Global Beverages Limited (TGBL) on 29 January 2014.

ii. At the time of elevation to the position of CEO and MD, Misra was serving the company as Deputy CEO and Executive Director of TGBL. His appointment will come to effect from 1 April 2014 as decided by the board of directors of TGBL.  

iii. On assuming the charge, he will replace Harish Bhat, who will step down from the position on 31 March 2014.

iv. Bhat as the managing director of Tata Global Beverages and the chairman of Tata Coffee will join the Tata Sons as a member of the Group Executive Council (GEC) and will report to the Chairman, Cyrus P Mistry, from 1 April 2014.

18.    Rail coach factory to be set up at Kolar

i. The Ministry of Railways and the Government of Karnataka will sign a memorandum of understanding (MoU) for the setting up of a rail coach factory at Kolar in Karnataka.

ii. The new rail coach factory, on its inception, will serve to meet the increasing demand for passenger coaches and will also foster the economic development of the State.

19.    Six PSUs signed MoU to set up World’s largest Solar Power Project

i. Six Public Sector Units (PSUs) have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on 29 January 2014 to set up the World’s largest 4000 MW ultra solar power project in Rajasthan.

ii. The joint venture company will develop the project with equity participation of – BHEL (26%), SECI (Solar Energy Corporation of India) 23%, SSL (Sambhar Salt Ltd) 16%, Power Grid 16%, SJVNL (Satluj Jal Vidyut Nigam) 16%, REIL (Rajasthan Electronics & Instruments Ltd) 3%.

iii. The project will be the largest single location solar plant spread across 19000 acres at Sambhar in Rajasthan. The project will be developed in two phases in 7 to 8 years.

iv. In the first phase of the project 1000 MW will be made operational within three years and the remaining 3000 MW will be covered in the next subsequent phases.

v. The First phase will require an investment of 7500 crore rupees. The department of heavy industry will set up a Special Purpose Vehicle (SPV) for the investment.

Note: The plant life is estimated to be 25 years and is expected to supply 6400 million units of energy per year. The plant will help to reduce CO2 emissions by over 4 million tonnes per year.

20. Lenovo Group agreed to acquire Google Inc’s Motorola handset division for USD 2.91 billion in order to expand its business into a heavily competitive U.S. handset market dominated by Apple Inc. It is Lenovo’s second major deal on U.S. soil after acquiring IBM’s low-end server business for USD 2.3 billion announced last week.

21. Google acquired Motorola Mobility for USD 12.5 billion in 2012 and sold the same division for USD 2.91 billion only after nearly 2 years. This is definitely the worst acquisition ever done by the internet giant. Google will keep majority of Motorola’s mobile patents after this deal. Google Chief Executive Officer Larry Page said that Google would be best served by focusing on smartphone software rather than devices.

Sports

22.    Punjab Rural Olympics kicks off with bullock cart race

i. Four-day Kila Raipur Rural Sports Festival is starting with bullock-cart race at village Kila Raipur in Punjab’s Ludhiana district, today.

ii. Popularly known as Rural Olympics, this annual event is on since 1940’s.

iii. The events include tug-of-war, kabbadi, dog race, tractor race, tent pegging, athletics, hockey matches, cycle races, wrestling etc.

iv. The games, to be played in 7-acre open stadium, attract participants from various neighboring states of Punjab and beyond

23.    Kiwi Kathy Cross is first woman in ICC umpire's panel

i. New Zealand's Kathy Cross today became the first woman to be inducted in an ICC umpires' panel when she was named as an Associate and Affiliate International official following the annual review and selection process.

ii. The 56-year-old Cross was born in Taumarunui, King Country, and is now eligible for appointments to ICC World Cricket League Divisions 3 to 6.

iii. Cross has previously officiated in the Women's World Cup in Australia in 2009 and in India in 2013. Cross said she was thrilled with her induction into the panel.

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