Current Affairs Update – 10 Dec, 2014

• ·        
  The State Bank of India (SBI) on 9 December 2014 launched two indices
  namely the SBI Monthly Composite Index and the SBI Yearly Composite Index.
  These indices will primarily track manufacturing and services activity to
  determine contraction and expansion of the Indian economy.
• ·        
  This is the first time that an Indian bank launched a forward-looking
  economic index. Earlier to determine the economic trends, markets depended upon
  HSBC India Purchasing Managers Index (PMI) and HSBC India Services Business
  Activity.
• ·        
  The SBI Composite Indices have been developed on the basis of the SBI’s
  internal loan portfolio, which mirrors the credit demand in the country.

• ·        
  The indices will be released every month post-RBI’s credit growth
  numbers
• ·        
  It will be published on a monthly basis and track two months in advance
  the possible trends in official estimates
• ·        
  Indices will determine the trends of economic activity on a scale of 0
  to 100. Index above 50 implies growth over previous respective period and less
  than 50 will suggest a contraction over respective period.
• ·        
  It will help policymakers and market participants to identify turning
  points in the manufacturing cycles in advance and adjust their investment plans
  or strategy
• ·        
  The index will also take into account other indicators of economic
  activities such as consumer spending, mining, interest rates, inflation and
  exchange rates on a monthly basis.
• ·        
  The data collection will not be outsourced as is the case with the HSBC
  data.

• ·        
  As per the sample prediction of manufacturing activities during October
  2006 to March 2013, the SBI Composite Indices was at 71 percent as against PMI
  at 49 percent.
• ·        
  During April 2013 to September 2014, the SBI Composite Index for
  manufacturing activities was at 72 percent as against PMI at 50 percent.
• ·        
  SBI Composite Index projects a stronger manufacturing recovery in
  December 2014.

• ·        
  ICICI Bank on Monday raised $200 million (Rs 1,200 crore) by selling
  overseas bonds with five-and-half year maturity as Indian businesses extend
  their fund-raising spree aboard taking advantage of historic low rates.
• ·        
  The offshore bonds were priced at 3.35%, about 166 basis points above
  the five-year US Treasury bond yields. Three months ago India’s largest private
  sector bank had mopped up $500 million through similar securities priced at
  3.50%, which was 176 bps higher than the five-year US papers. “These are
  Reg (s) bonds.
• ·        
  The bank has obtained a better rate this time,” a person familiar
  with the matter told. The 144 Reg(s) status allows the bond to be sold to
  qualified institutional buyers in the US without the need to register the issue
  with the US Securities and Exchange Commission.

• ·        
  India has been ranked as the second most ‘up and coming’ destination
  –the countries that are getting better as a place to live and work in– for
  expats after China, says an HSBC survey.
• ·        
  According to the Expat Explorer survey commissioned by HSBC Expat,
  emerging Asian economies are an attractive destination for challenge-seeking
  and adventurous expats, with 44 per cent of them saying they made the move for
  a new challenge.
• ·        
  “India is likely to develop its industrial sector to catch up on
  infrastructure development, which will happen with the help of overseas
  funding.
• ·        
  It’s natural to assume that the foreign funding will bring along foreign
  human expertise,” HSBC India Head of Retail Banking and Wealth Management
  Sanjiv Sud said.
• ·        
  Indian economy is consistently growing above 5 per cent every year, and
  is expected to post a 7.3 per cent growth in 2016, according to HSBC.

• ·        
  Veteran journalist Piratla Venkateswarlu passed away on 8 December 2014
  in Narayanaguda following a brief illness. He was 74.
• ·        
  Piratla was unwell due to diabetes-related nervous complications.
• ·        
  Piratla began his career as a full-time Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh
  (RSS) worker.
• ·        
  He was the National Secretary of Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad
  (ABVP), the students’ wing of Bharatiya Janata Party.
• ·        
  Later, he took up journalism by working for News Channel Jagruthi.
• ·        
  He became the editor of Krishna Patrika Telugu daily in 1982 and ran the
  publication till 2012.
• ·        
  He is also actively associated with small newspapers association of
  India.

• ·        
  Bharat Heavy Electricals Limited (BHEL) on 8 December 2014 successfully
  commissioned a 28 MW Nyaborongo Hydro Electric Project in Rwanda on turnkey
  basis.
• ·        
  With the commissioning of this project, the installed generating
  capacity of Republic of Rwanda has gone up by 24 percent from 119 MW to 147 MW.
• ·        
  Nyaborongo Hydro Electric project is owned by the Government of Rwanda
  and has been financed under the Government of India’s Line of Credit.
• ·        
  BHEL’s scope of work in the contract included turnkey execution for the
  Nyaborongo hydro power project comprising two hydro generating units of 14 MW
  each.
• ·        
  Major equipment supplied for the project include hydro turbines,
  generators, transformers, controls, monitoring and protection systems and
  switchgear.

• ·        
  The first Arabic translation of Indian Constitution was launched on 9
  December 2014 in Cairo.
• ·        
  The Arabic translation was launched by the Secretary General of the Arab
  League Nabil El Araby along with Indian Secretary (East) ambassador Anil
  Wadhwa.
• ·        
  The launch was organised in the Secretariat of the League of Arab States
  by the Embassy of India in collaboration with the League of Arab States.
• ·        
  The translation was undertaken by the International Institute for
  Democracy and Electoral Assistance (IDEA).
• ·        
  The translated Constitution meets the aspirations of all sections of
  society and is characterised by large lingual, religious and ethnic diversity.

• ·        
  The Union Government on 5 December 2014 divested its 5 percent stake in
  Steel Authority of India Ltd (SAIL). The government divested 20.65 crores
  shares of SAIL through offer for sale (OFS) through stock exchanges as per SEBI
  Rules and Regulation.
• ·        
  With the sale of 5 percent stake in SAIL at a floor price of 83 rupees
  per share, Union government mopped up around 1715 crore rupees.
• ·        
  As a result, the government stake in SAIL came down from present 80
  percent to 75 percent meeting the SEBI norms on listing of public shareholding.
• ·        
  As per the Securities Contracts (Regulation) Rules of SEBI, minimum
  public shareholding in listed state-owned firms should be 25 percent and all
  the listed PSU norms has to comply with the norm by 21 August 2017.
• ·        
  Apart from this, as much as 10 percent of the offered shares were reserved
  for retail investors, who can buy shares worth up to 2 lakh rupees in the
  disinvestment. A minimum of 25 percent of the issue size was reserved for
  mutual funds and insurance companies.

• ·        
  The advanced version of Mark-II Pinaka Rocket was successfully test
  fired on 9 December 2014 from the Proof & Experimental Establishment (PXE)
  at Chandipur, about 15-km from Balasore in Odisha. It was test-fired using a
  multi-barrel launcher.
• ·        
  The tests were conducted by the Pune-based Armament Research and
  Development Establishment (ARDE) of DRDO with logistical support from the PXE
  labs.
• ·        
  Advance version of Mark-II rocket has a range of more than 60-km and
  capable of acting as a force-multiplier. It was developed to supplement
  artillery guns.
• ·        
  Pinaka is the unguided rocket system meant to neutralise large areas
  with rapid salvos. It has undergone several tough tests since 1995. It has been
  inducted into the Army and the present trials were conducted with some
  improvements.

• ·        
  World Economic Forum (WEF) on 8 December 2014 released the 2013 Travel
  & Tourism Competitiveness Index. The theme of the 2013 Index is Reducing
  Barriers to Economic Growth and Job Creation. 
• ·        
  Out of 140 economies assessed in the 2013 Index, Switzerland topped the
  list in terms of travel and tourism competitiveness. It is followed by Germany
  and Austria at second and third place respectively.
• ·        
  The other countries in the top ten are: 
  the United Kingdom, the United States, France, Canada, Sweden and
  Singapore.
• ·        
  India has been placed at 65th position in the 2013 Index and is
  positioned at 11th place in the Asia-Pacific region.
• ·        
  African countries namely Nigeria, Chad, Mauritania, Lesotho, Guinea,
  Sierra Leone, Burundi and Haiti are positioned last in the index.

• ·        
  Indian-American Richard Rahul Verma’s nomination as the next US
  Ambassador to India was confirmed by the US Senate on 9 December 2014. With
  this, he became the first Indian-American to be the US Ambassador to India.
• ·        
  Verma will replace Nancy Powell who resigned from the post in March 2014
  after a damaging row over the treatment of a junior diplomat of India, Devyani
  Khobragade.
• ·        
  At present, the US Embassy in New Delhi is headed by a charge
  d’affaires, Kathleen Stephens.
• ·        
  Currently, he is a senior counsellor at Steptoe & Johnson law firm
  and the Albright Stonebridge Group, a business advisory company led by former
  US Secretary of State Madeleine Albright.
• ·        
  He played an important role in the Congressional passage of India-US
  Civilian Nuclear Deal and is a strong advocator of Indo-US ties. In this
  regard, he started an India 2020 project at a top American-think tank named
  Center for American Progress.

• ·        
  Human Rights Day was observed globally on 10 December 2014.  The theme for the 2014 Human Rights Day is
  Human Rights 365. The theme was based on the idea that every day is Human
  Rights Day and everyone is entitled to basic human rights day.
• ·        
  The day celebrates the fundamental proposition in the Universal
  Declaration that each one of us, everywhere, at all times is entitled to the
  full range of human rights, that human rights belong equally to each of us and
  bind us together as a global community with the same ideals and values.
• ·        
  The date was chosen to honour the United Nations General Assembly’s
  adoption and proclamation of Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) on 10
  December 1948.
• ·        
  The day is marked both by high-level political conferences and meetings
  and by cultural events and exhibitions dealing with human rights issues.
• ·        
  In addition it is traditionally on 10 December that the five-yearly
  United Nations Prize in the Field of Human Rights and Nobel Peace Prize are
  awarded.
• ·        
  First Human Rights Day was celebrated in 1950.

• ·        
  France and the United States signed a 60 million US dollars agreement on
  8 December 2014 to compensate thousands of Holocaust survivors who were
  deported to concentration camps by France’s state rail company SNCF during Nazi
  occupation.
• ·        
  Although SNCF is not a party to the agreement, the company will
  contribute 4 million US  dollars over the
  next five years to fund Holocaust memorials and museums in the US, Israel and
  France.
• ·        
  The agreement will come into effect after the approval by the French
  parliament.

• ·        
  Under the agreement, the French government will pay 60 million US
  dollars to Holocaust survivors and their families.
• ·        
  The agreement aims to pay those people who were deported from France to
  Nazi concentration camps through the French rail company SNCF during the
  country’s occupation by the Germans between 1940 and 1944.
• ·        
  In order to gain the benefits of the deal, the person should not have
  had access to any compensation or pension programmes which France has been
  providing since 1946.

• ·        
  International Anti-Corruption Day was observed by the United Nations on
  9 December 2014. The day was observed to raise public awareness about
  corruption and what people can do to fight it.
• ·        
  The theme of 2014 International Anti-Corruption Day was Break the
  Corruption Chain. The theme focused on showing the importance of individual
  engagement in tackling a phenomenon that strikes hardest at the poor, hinders
  inclusive economic growth and robs essential services of badly needed funds.
• ·        
  On the theme a joint international campaign called Break the Corruption
  Chain was launched to focus on how corruption undermines democracy and the rule
  of law, leads to human rights violations, distorts markets, erodes quality of
  life and allows organized crime, terrorism and other threats to human security
  to flourish.
• ·        
  On 31 October 2003, UN General Assembly (UNGA) adopted the United
  Nations Convention against Corruption and designated the United Nations Office
  on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) as secretariat for the Convention against
  corruption.
• ·        
  The UNGA also designated 9 December as International Anti-Corruption
  Day. The Convention entered into force in December 2005.

• ·        
  Richest man of Russia Alisher Usmanov was in news in the first week of
  December 2014 as he decided to return the Nobel Prize medal to James D Watson
  which he bought for 4.8 million US dollars at auction from him.
• ·        
  He bought the Nobel Prize medal in order to return the medal to the
  American geneticist James D Watson, thinking that the medal will stay with the
  person who deserved it.
• ·        
  Watson was awarded for the discovery of the structure of DNA and he was
  awarded the Nobel Prize along with Maurice Wilkins and Francis Crick in 1962.
  Watson planned to donate part of the proceeds to charities and to support
  scientific research. 
• ·        
  According to Forbes magazine, Steel and telecom tycoon of Russia Alisher
  Usmanov is worth 15.8 billion US dollars. He is a major shareholder in Arsenal
  Football Club. He is the second richest man in Britain in 2014 according to the
  Sunday Times.

• ·        
  Bhutan on 8 December 2014 became the 181st member of Multilateral
  Investment Guarantee Agency (MIGA). MIGA is the political risk insurance and credit
  enhancement arm of the World Bank Group.
• ·        
  Bhutan has fulfilled all of its membership requirements to become the
  member of MIGA.

• ·        
  The move will allow the private sector and corporations of a country to
  explore external commercial borrowing (ECB).
• ·        
  Once a member of MIGA, the private sector and corporations in the
  country will have the option of directly applying to MIGA for issuance of
  guarantee to attract Foreign Direct Investment (FDI).
• ·        
  MIGA’s guarantee can help investors obtain access to ECB with improved
  financial terms and conditions.
• ·        
  Premium rates are decided on per project basis, and vary by country,
  sector, transaction and the type of risk insured.
• ·        
  Bhutan is now eligible for the Agency’s investment guarantees.

• ·        
  US based think tank IntelCenter on 9 December 2014 released Country
  Threat Index (CTI) ranking 45 countries in terms of terrorist and rebel threat
  to a country.
• ·        
  The Country Threat Index (CTI) rankings of these countries have been
  prepared after examining the volume of terrorist and rebel alerts, messaging
  traffic, videos, photos, incidents and the number of killed and injured in a
  country over the past 30 days.

1. 1-    
   Iraq
2. 2-    
   Nigeria
3. 3-    
   Somalia              
4. 4-    
   Afghanistan      
5. 5-    
   Yemen
6. 6-    
   Syria    
7. 7-    
   Libya    
8. 8-    
   Pakistan             
9. 9-    
   Egypt   
10. 10-  Kenya

• ·        
  Boxer Sarita Devi finally received her Asian Games bronze medal which
  she had refused at the victory ceremony in Incheon under controversial circumstances
  with the Indian Olympic Association Secretary General Rajeev Mehta presenting
  it to her in New Delhi.
• ·        
  Mehta presented the medal to the Manipuri boxer at the IOA Headquarters.
• ·        
  Sarita was provisionally suspended by the International Boxing
  Federation (AIBA) after she refused to accept her medal following a
  controversial semifinal loss in the Asian Games.
• ·        
  The AIBA is yet to take a final call on the quantum of Sarita’s
  punishment but Dr Wu has already made it clear that her career is “as good
  as over” despite tendering an unconditional apology for her actions.