Current Affairs Update - 14 Oct, 2014

• ·         The RBI today asked banks to comply with the one-address-proof norm as it was found that many of them were not following the new rules.
• ·         Despite its clear instructions on requirement of one proof of address, whether permanent or current, RBI said it was brought to its notice that some banks were still insisting on submission of a proof of current address even when a customer produced a proof of permanent address.
• ·         Banks are advised to ensure that customers are not unnecessarily asked to submit additional proofs of addresses for current addresses in cases where proofs of addresses for permanent addresses are already available, RBI said.
• ·         RBI said the insistence for proof of local address prevents many prospective customers, especially migrant workers, from opening bank accounts.
• ·         Earlier in June this year, RBI had simplified the bank account opening norms by allowing customers to submit only one proof of address, either permanent or local.

• ·         Following Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s successful US visit, the Indo-American Chamber of Commerce (IACC) will hold a two-day Indo-US Economic Summit in New Delhi from Wednesday, to be attended by key policy makers and corporate leaders representing Indian and American companies.
• ·         “The theme for this year’s economic summit will be ‘Convergence and Connectivity in Indo-US Economic Relations’,” IACC said in a release here on the tenth edition of the summit.

• ·         Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced here on Tuesday afternoon an immediate assistance of Rs. 1,000 crore to the Andhra Pradesh Government in view of the havoc wrought by cyclone Hudhud in Visakhapatnam and other districts.
• ·         The Prime Minister arrived here by a special flight at around 1.30 p.m. after conducting an aerial survey of some of the cyclone-hit areas in the district. He was received at the airport by Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu, Union Ministers M Venkaiah Naidu and Ashok Gajapati Raju, and State Governor Narasimhan.
• ·         He saw the damage at the airport and went by road to the collector's office where he reviewed the relief operations along with the Chief Minister and Union Ministers. He later told reporters that the Union Government would stand by the AP Government and the people of the city in the hour of crisis.
• ·         Modi commended the State Government for using modern technology in minimising the losses and both the Union Government and the State Government worked in tandem to reduce the loss of life. He also praised the courage and resilience of the people of Visakhapatnam and expressed confidence that the city would be back to normal soon.
• ·         He said he had announced in the US that Visakhapatnam would be made a smart city and in spite of the temporary setback, there was no doubt Vizag would develop into a great city.
• ·         The Prime Minister announced Rs. 2 lakhs to the next of kin of those who lost their lives in the cyclone and Rs. 50,000 to the injured out of the Prime Minister's relief fund. Till now it is reported that more than 20 lives lost their lives in the cyclone in different districts.

• ·         The 2014 Global Hunger Index (GHI) was released on 13 October 2014 by the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI), Welthungerhilfe and Concern Worldwide.
• ·         It revealed that two billion people were suffering from hidden hunger even though the levels of hunger in many developing countries decreased. The 2014 GHI was calculated for 120 developing countries and countries in transition, 55 of which have a serious or worse hunger situation.
• ·         From 1990 to 2014, 26 countries reduced their scores by 50 percent. In terms of absolute progress, Angola, Bangladesh, Cambodia, Chad, Ghana, Malawi, Niger, Rwanda, Thailand, and Vietnam witnessed the biggest improvement in scores since 1990.
• ·         The severity of hunger was found to be low in 44 countries. These countries include Algeria, Argentina, Brazil, Cuba, Iran, Kazakhstan, Mexico and Turkey.
• ·         Moreover, countries like Burundi and Eritrea were classified as extremely alarming as per the 2014 GHI. However, reliable data for the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Somalia was sorely lacking.
• ·         Mauritius, Thailand, Albania ranked 1, 2, 3 respectively.

• ·         After implementing a national ban on animal testing for cosmetics, India has followed it up by banning the import of animal-tested cosmetics as well.
• ·         The significant development makes India the first cruelty-free cosmetics zone in South Asia and an example for other nations to follow, said a note from Humane Society International (India), hailing the move that is also being cheered by ethical consumers in the country.
• ·         The ban comes in the form of Rule 135-B that states, “Prohibition of import of cosmetics tested on animals. No cosmetic that has been tested on animals after the commencement of Drugs and Cosmetics (Fifth Amendment) Rules, 2014 shall be imported into the country”, the note said. The notification will come into effect on 13 November, 2014.
• ·         Explaining the significance, HSI’s Alokparna Sengupta said that a consumer can be confident that any cosmetic in the country, imported after the November cut-off will be free of the cruel practise of testing on animals.
• ·         Israel and the 27 EU countries have already implemented both testing and sales bans to bring an end to cosmetics testing on animals. A little less than a year ago, even China took a monumental step in this direction. China’s Food and Drug Administration said that China would remove mandatory animal test requirements for its locally made cosmetic products, from June this year. Earlier this year #BeCrueltyFree campaigners in Australia, Brazil, New Zealand, Taiwan and the United States have all celebrated the introduction of bills proposing national cosmetic animal test bans, the note said.

• ·         Germany will provide €4 million, apart from services of international experts, to help the Ministry of Urban Development to implement sanitation programmes in urban areas of the country.
• ·         India and Germany on Tuesday signed an ‘Implementation Agreement on Support to National Urban Sanitation Policy’, a statement from the Ministry said.
• ·         The agreement, which is valid for three years (till March, 2017), seeks to promote capacity development in the urban sanitation sector, formulation of state and city sanitation policies and support states for technical innovation, the statement added.
• ·         The focus of the tie-up will be on enabling effective measures against discharge of untreated waste water into surface and ground water.

• ·         British Minister for Culture, Media and Sport, Sajid Javid here on Tuesday launched a new £6.5 million fund, set up by the Arts Council England and the British Council, to build creative connections between the people of the UK and India.
• ·         Titled ‘Re-Imagine India’, the fund will support artists and cultural organisations to exchange ideas and influences, promote new creative collaborations, showcase the best of UK and Indian arts across a range of forms. While the new fund will last till 2017, there is a likelyhood of additional funds for the project in 2016, British sources said.
• ·         The Minister, who led the delegation of experts, hosted a roundtable on UK-India museum partnerships. The meeting discussed opportunities in sharing best practices in collections, policies, strategies, HR, education programming, and audience profiling in Indian and UK museums and galleries.

• ·         Inspector Shakti Devi of the Jammu and Kashmir Police, who is currently deployed in the UN Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA), has been named recipient of the International Female Police Peacekeeper Award 2014 by the UN’s Police Division for her “exceptional achievements” with the UN mission in Afghanistan, including her efforts towards helping victims of sexual and gender-based violence.
• ·         Ms. Devi has been honoured for her “exceptional achievements” in leading the establishment of Women Police Councils in several parts of Afghanistan, the UN Police Division said in a communication to the Indian mission.
• ·         It said Ms. Devi has contributed to the improvement of the status of female police and has effectively helped the police of Afghanistan move towards achieving their goals of fully adopting democratic principles of policing.
• ·         The award was delivered during the International Association of Women Police (IAWP) conference held earlier this month in Winnipeg, Canada.
• ·         India is the largest contributor to UN peacekeeping operations, having contributed more than 170,000 troops in 43 out of 69 peacekeeping missions mandated by the United Nations Security Council so far. The UN also owes India $110 million, the second highest outstanding payment to any country, for costs relating to peacekeeping operations and troops.

• ·         All India National Unity Council on 11 October 2014 honoured poet-diplomat Abhay K with Asia-Pacific Excellence Award.
• ·         He was awarded for his outstanding individual achievements in the field of literature by penning Earth Anthem and SAARC song and for celebrating local, regional and global themes in his poems and writings.
• ·         Others who were honoured on this occasion were eminent lawyer Mithilesh Kumar Singh, Professor Basant Kumar Gautam of Tribhuwan University, former law-maker and Bhojpuri poet Gopal Thakur and the owner of the Dwarika Hotel Mrs. Ambika Shrestha, former Ambassador of Nepal to Japan Dr. Bishnu Hari Nepal and entrepreneur Mrs. Bhawani Rana.
• ·         The award ceremony was held at Kathmandu in Nepal in association with the Nepal-India Forum for peace and development.

• ·         British lawmakers have voted in favour of recognising Palestine as a state, a symbolic move intended to increase pressure for a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
• ·         Legislators in the House of Commons voted 274 to 12 to support a motion calling on the British government to “recognise the state of Palestine alongside the state of Israel.”
• ·         Prime Minister David Cameron and other government leaders abstained, and more than half of the 650 Commons members did not participate in the vote.
• ·         But the motion had support from both government and opposition lawmakers, who said it could help kick-start the peace process following a summer war in Gaza that claimed the lives of more than 2,100 Palestinians, the majority civilians, and more than 70 Israelis, most of them soldiers.
• ·         Labour Party legislator Grahame Morris said recognising a Palestinian state could help break the impasse in peace negotiations before it was too late.
• ·         Otherwise, he said, “any hope of a two-state solution, the only viable solution, will have disappeared altogether.”
• ·         Conservative lawmaker Nicholas Soames, grandson of World War II Prime Minister Winston Churchill, said that “to recognise Palestine is both morally right and is in our national interest.”

• ·         Khaled Bahah on 13 October 2014 was appointed as Prime Minister of Yemen. He was appointed by the President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi. At the time of appointment Bahah was serving as permanent representative of the Republic of Yemen to the United Nations.
• ·         The appointment comes under a power-sharing deal signed between Houthis and President Mansour Hadi in September 2014. The deal aims to bring the Houthis and the wing of a separatist group into a more inclusive government.
• ·         In October 2014, President Mansour Hadi proposed Ahmed Awad bin Mubarak as Prime Minister but he was rejected by Houthi, Shiite Muslim group. Houthi group proposed three names and Khaled Bahah was one among them.

• ·         In a big setback, India on Tuesday lost a case in the WTO against the US on restrictions it had imposed on poultry imports from America.
• ·         Giving its ruling on a case filed by the US, the World Trade Organization's dispute panel said that restrictions imposed by India on imports of poultry from America were "inconsistent" with the international norms.
• ·         In March 2012, the US had dragged India to the WTO against India's ban on imports of certain American farm products, including poultry meat and eggs.
• ·         India had banned imports of various agricultural products from the US in 2007, as a precautionary measure to prevent outbreaks of avian influenza in the country.

• ·         Olympic bronze medalist MC Mary Kom on 13 October 2014 was chosen as the Most Valuable Player (MVP) of India’s Incheon Asian Games campaign at a felicitation of the medal winners by contingent sponsors, Samsung India.
• ·         Kom, the first Indian woman boxer to win a gold medal in Asian Games was named as the MVP in a poll conducted by Samsung. The poll contest had all 11 individual/team gold winners, including the men's hockey team.
• ·         After topping the list, the gold medalist in the 2014 Incheon Games in flyweight (-51kg) class, Mary Kom received 10 lakh rupees.
• ·         India won 11 gold, 10 silver and 36 bronze in the Incheon Asian Games. 

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