Current Affairs Update – 12 Nov, 2014

Exampundit.in

7 years ago

Finance

1. Public Sector Banks
employee went on strike over wage revision

Public Sector Banks
Employee on 12 November 2014 went on a nationwide strike to press for wage
revision. The strike affected banking services like cheque clearance and
withdrawal from branches across India.
United Forum of Bank
Unions (UFBU) called for national wide strike where All-India State Bank
Officers’ Federation and All-India State Bank of India Staff Federation
participated in the strike. UFBU is an umbrella organisation of nine bank
employees and officer unions.
However, private
sector banks like ICICI Bank and HDFC Bank remained open and most of the
ATMs of all banks were functioned normally.
Earlier in February
2014 the staff of public sector banks had gone on a nationwide strike for
two days regarding wage revision which is due since November 2012.

2. Alibaba made the record
of earning 9.3 billion US dollars on a single day

China’s online retail
giant, Alibaba on 11 November 2014 made the record of earning 9.3 billion
US dollars in sales on a single day. Alibaba achieved the staggering
figure on Singles Day shopping event which celebrates the bachelorhood of
Young single Chinese.
On this day, Alibaba
shipped 278 million orders out of which 43 percent were mobile devices.
In 2013, Alibaba had
recorded sales of 5.75 billion US dollars and shipped 150 million orders
on Singles’ Day that is the world’s biggest online retail sales day.
Singles’ Day called
anti-valentine’s Day emerged in China two decades ago as a time for
bachelors and bachelorettes to celebrate the single life.
Alibaba turned Singles’
Day into the biggest 24-hour cyber spending target in the world by
offering deep discounts on everything from cars to clothes on that day.

3. IFC arm of World Bank
issued 10 billion rupee Masala bond to fund infrastructure development

International Finance
Corp (IFC) arm of World Bank on 11 November 2014 issued 10 billion rupee
Masala bond to fund infrastructure development.
The so-called Masala
bonds mark the first rupee bonds listed on the London Stock Exchange. The
name masala bond is the Indian counterpart of the Dim Sum bond applied to
Chinese offshore issues of IFC. Bonds issued inside India by IFC are known
as Maharaja Bonds.
IFC will invest
proceeds of rupee-denominated bonds into Axis Bank’s proposed
infrastructure bonds.
The yield is 6.3 per
cent and it is almost two percentage points lower than the rate at which
the Government of India itself can raise money. The latest issue builds on
earlier offshore rupee issues of shorter tenure.
The bonds were issued
under IFC’s 2 billion US dollar offshore rupee programme. J.P. Morgan is
the sole arranger for the issuance.
The bonds are the
longest-dated bonds in the offshore rupee markets, building on earlier
offshore rupee issuances by IFC at three-, five-and seven-year maturities.

4. Flipkart appointed Rishi
Vasudev and P Balakrishnan as Vice President

The largest online
retailer of India Flipkart on 12 November 2014 appointed two new members
Rishi Vasudev and P Balakrishnan as Vice President.
Rishi Vasudev joined
as the new Vice President Fashion (Retail), while Parameswaran
Balakrishnan will head the organisation as Vice President HR for supply
chain.
Rishi Vasudev have more than 15 years of experience in
the fashion and retail industry. Earlier he was working as the CEO of Calvin
Klein India.
P. Balakrishnan will
involve driving all business partnering, talent acquisition and functional
L&D for supply chain at Flipkart.
Parameswaran has over
two decades of experience working with organisations like Toyota and Tata
Motors.

5. Kerala became first
state with bank accounts for all families

Kerala became the
first state in the country to have bank accounts for all families under
Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojna (PMJDY). A formal declaration to this effect
was made by Kerala Finance Minister KM Mani at the State-Level Bankers’
Committee (SLBC) meeting in Thiruvananthapuram on 11 November 2014.
Under the PMJDY,
Kerala has opened about 13 lakh new accounts and has mobilised 326 crore
rupees through intensive financial literacy campaigns launched under the
aegis of the State Level Banker’s Committee (SLBC).
At present, Kerala
have Financial Literacy Centres in all the 152 blocks of Kerala has helped
it to achieve the target of PMJDY ahead of schedule. 5.25 lakh rupees
debit cards have been issued by all banks.

6. Retail inflation drops
to 5.5 per cent in Oct

Helped by softening
prices of food items, the retail inflation declined to 5.52 per cent in
October, the lowest since the new series of data was introduced in January
2012. This is the fourth consecutive month of decline in the Consumer
Price Index based inflation or retail inflation, which had fallen to 6.46 per
cent in the previous month.
The overall food
inflation measured on CPI came down to 5.59 per cent in October against
7.67 per cent in the previous month.
Retail prices of
vegetables declined by 1.45 per cent against a rise of 8.59 per cent in
September, according the data released by the Ministry of Statistics and
Programme Implementation.
Inflation in fruits
slowed to 17.49 per cent from 22.4 per cent in September. Similarly the
rate of price rise in protein rich items like eggs, fish and meat was at
6.34 per cent in October, slightly down from 6.35 per cent in the previous
month.
The data on inflation
based on Wholesale Price Index for October will be released on Friday. WPI
inflation had dropped to a near five-year low in September to 2.38 per
cent, helped by moderation in food and fuel prices.
RBI has started
targeting retail inflation, while deciding on its bi-monthly monetary
policy.

India

7. Union Government banned
militant outfit KLO operating in WB, Assam

Union Government on 11
November 2014 banned militant outfit Kamatapur Liberation Organisation
(KLO), which operates in West Bengal and Assam. The group is fighting for
a sovereign state Kamatapur.
Union Home Ministry in
a notification said that under the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act,
1967, it has proposed to add Kamatapur Liberation Organisation and all its
formation and front organisations as a terrorist organisation. With this
notification, KLO will be listed in the First Schedule and has joined the
37th militant organization.
Kamatapur Liberation
Organisation (KLO) came into existence in 1993. KLO was formed to address
problems of the Koch Rajbongshi community and perceived neglect of
Kamtapuri language, identity and grievances of economic deprivation of the
community. It has been consolidating its position in fourteen districts of
Assam and six districts of West Bengal.

8. Public Service
Broadcasting Day observed on 12 November

Public Service
Broadcasting Day was observed across India on 12 November 2014. The day is
observed in remembrance of the Father of the Nation Mahatma Gandhi’s visit
to All India Radio studio in Delhi for the first and last time.
Mahatma Gandhi on 12
November 1947 visited the studio of All India Radio to address those
people (refugees from Pakistan) who were temporarily settled in
Kurukshetra after partition.
All India Radio, New
Delhi organised a function in its premise to mark the day. Apart from
this, North Eastern Service of All India Radio, Shillong celebrated the
day by organizing Choir Music Festival in Shillong. Choir parties from
Agartala, Aizawl, Imphal, Kohima and Shillong also participated in the
Festival.

9. Best App in Asia award
to Hyderabad entrepreneur

The coffee farmers of
Araku valley these days get instant returns for their produce. Gone are
the days when they had to wait for nearly a month till the buyers
completed the weighing process of the produce and release money through
co-operative society. Thanks to a mobile application developed by
Hyderabad-based entrepreneur, Raghu Kanchustambham, there is no waiting
period.
The app dubbed as
‘Livelihood 360 (L360)’ was adjudged the Best App of Asia in the Telenor
Digital Winners Conference, a global competition held in Oslo, Norway this
month. The award came with a cash prize of Rs. 9,79,000, which will be
utilised by the developer to further “scale up” the concept.
It all started when
Mr. Raghu, who has a start-up ‘Concept Wave’, met the officials of Naandi
Foundation, which was already working with the coffee farmers of Araku
valley. “The basic premise was to utilise technology and reach to those
people not having access to technology and internet. I visited Araku valley
and spent time with them and learnt a lot about their lifestyle and
livelihood,” he said.

10. ISRO releases picture
of comet taken by Mars Orbiter

On a day when European
Space Agency (ESA) is attempting to place a robot Philae on Comet
67P/Churyumov—Gerasimenko, ISRO today released images of Comet Siding
Spring, taken by its Mars Orbiter last month.
ISRO’s Mars Orbiter
had the opportunity to witness the Comet Siding Spring approach Mars on
October 19, for which the spacecraft repositioned itself for its safety.
After the comet passed by, @MarsOrbiter tweeted, “Phew! Experience of a
lifetime. Watched the MarsComet SidingSpring whizzing past the planet. I’m
in my orbit, safe and sound.”
The Mars Colour Camera
on board ISRO’s Mars Orbiter has captured the Coma (top bright portion) of
the comet partly, as it approached MOM during last 40 minutes of the
imaging session before Mars—Comet close encounter, ISRO said in its social
networking site along with the pictures.
“Sequence of MCC
images show the Coma move closure to MOM from 1.8 lakh to 1.3 lakh km
between 17.44 to 18.25 UT on October 19,” it said.
As on 3 PM IST, ESA’s
Rosetta — and her companion spacecraft — Philae — have parted ways, ahead
of a historic landing on the surface of Comet 67P/Churyumov—Gerasimenko on
Wednesday, according to ESA.
Philae is heading for
a landing site named Agilkia, it said.

11. Rajinikanth is Indian
Film Personality of the Year

The Centre has named
actor Rajinikanth as winner of the Centenary Award for Indian Film
Personality of the Year. This was announced by Colonel Rajyavardhan Singh
Rathore, Minister of State, Information and Broadcasting, on Tuesday.
The Chennai-based
actor would be receiving the honour at the 45th International Film
Festival of India to be held in Goa from November 20 to 30. Social media
was agog with excitement as fans posted messages congratulating their ‘Superstar’,
as he is fondly known.
The 63-year-old actor
is a recipient of the Padma Bhushan, the third highest civilian honour
which he got in 2000. He has also won a number of awards from the Tamil
Nadu government.
Hailing from a modest
background, the actor had a dream debut in K. Balachander’s Aboorva
Ragangal in 1975 and fans are eagerly looking forward to his upcoming
Lingaa.
“His contribution to
cinema is immense and no amount of awards is enough. This award is a
recognition for his pan-Indian popularity,” said Bobby Simha, actor and a
fan of Rajinikanth.

International

12. UN Chief Ban Ki Moon
constituted a Gaza war inquiry headed by Patrick Cammaert

United Nations
Secretary General, Ban Ki Moon on 11 November 2014 appointed a five-member
panel to investigate Israeli attacks on UN shelters during the Gaza war
and the discovery of Hamas weapons at UN sites. During its investigation,
the panel will focus on incidents from 8 July to 26 August 2014.
The inquiry will be
led by retired Dutch general Patrick Cammaert. Other members of the panel
include Maria Vicien-Milburn of Argentina, Lee O’Brien of America, Pierre
Lemelin of Canada and K.C. Reddy of India.
Earlier in October
2014, Moon during his visit to the site of damaged UN shelters in Gaza
described the three Israeli shelling of UN-run schools as a moral outrage.
He announced plans to set up a probe during this visit.
However, Israel
maintains that Palestinian Hamas fighters were using the schools to store
weapons. It also denied that it had deliberately targeted the schools,
which were being used as shelters by Palestinians during the 50-day
Israeli offensive.

13. 21st APEC Summit
Concluded with Chinese trade pact plan

The 21st Asia-Pacific
Economic Co-operation (APEC) Summit was concluded on 11 November 2014. The
summit was held at Yanqi Lake in Beijing, China.
The summit was
concluded with issuing of the 22nd APEC Economic Leaders’ Meeting
Declaration – Beijing Agenda for an Integrated, Innovative and
Interconnected Asia-Pacific.
The summit was held
under the theme of Shaping the Future through Asia-Pacific Partnership.
The Declaration
outlines new far-reaching measures for advancing regional economic
integration, promoting innovative development, economic reform and growth,
and strengthening comprehensive connectivity and infrastructure
development, with a view to expanding and deepening regional economic
cooperation, and attaining peace, stability, development and common prosperity
of the Asia-Pacific.

Highlights of the Declaration

•
The
declaration submitted that significant progress made toward achieving the Bogor
Goals.

•
The
declaration recognised that APEC has a critical role to play in shaping and
nurturing regional economic integration.

•
APEC
announced to make more important and meaningful contributions as an incubator
to translate the Free Trade Area of the Asia-Pacific (FTAAP) from a vision to
reality. FTAAP is a major instrument to strengthen APEC’s regional economic
integration agenda.

•
In this
regard, the summit aimed to endorse the Beijing Roadmap for APEC’s Contribution
to the Realization of the FTAAP.

•
The
summit welcome the establishment of a Committee on Trade and Investment (CTI)
Friends of the Chair Group on Strengthening Regional Economic Integration (REI)
and Advancing FTAAP, and urge the Friends of the Chair Group to continue its
work.

•
They
agree to launch a collective strategic study on issues related to the
realization of the FTAAP, and instruct officials to undertake the study,
consult stakeholders and report the result by the end of 2016.

•
They
endorse the establishment of an APEC Information Sharing Mechanism on
RTAs/FTAs. They highly commend the work on the implementation of the Action
Plan Framework on Capacity Building Needs Initiatives (CBNI), and endorse the
Action Plan Framework of the 2nd CBNI.

•
They
instruct officials to design targeted and tailor-made capacity building
activities to narrow the gap of the capacities of APEC economies to facilitate
the eventual realization of the FTAAP.

•
To
Advance the Global Value Chain Development and Supply Chain Connectivity, they
endorse the APEC Strategic Blueprint for Promoting Global Value Chain (GVC)
Development and Cooperation.

•
Global
Value Chains (GVCs) have become a dominant feature of the global economy and
offer new prospects for growth, competitiveness and job creation for APEC
economies at all levels of development.

•
To
Strengthen Economic and Technical Cooperation, they endorse the APEC Strategic
Plan on Capacity Building to Promote Trade and Investment Agenda which adopts a
strategic, goal-oriented and multi-year approach.

•
They
encourage economies, particularly developed economies, to provide more
contributions to ECOTECH and capacity building, to achieve their goal of
bridging development gaps, and help member economies to meet their APEC
commitments and their economic growth objectives.

•
Also,
they welcome the initiative to upgrade the Asia Pacific Finance and Development
Center (AFDC) to the Asia Pacific Finance and Development Institute (AFDI).

14. Jesus was married, had
kids, claims The Lost Gospel

“What the Vatican
feared — and Dan Brown only suspected — has come true,” Simcha Jacobovici
and Barrie A. Wilson, authors of The Lost Gospel write in their preface:
“There is now written evidence that Jesus was married to Mary the
Magdalene and that they had children together.”
At a press conference
at the British Library, the authors — Mr. Jacobovici is a Canadian-Israeli
film director, award-winning journalist, and writer; Professor Wilson
teaches religious studies at York University, Toronto — presented the
evidence, morsels of which had already been fed into the press over the
last few days.
The authors claim that
an ancient Syriac manuscript called Joseph and Aseneth, which found its
way to the British Library on 11 November 1847 from a monastery in Egypt,
is a lost gospel that fills in the gaps in the narrative about the life of
Jesus, showing him as a human being who courted and then married his wife,
had children, and even survived an attempt on his life.
The manuscript is
already known to experts in the field of early Christianity, the authors
claim, albeit only in the later Latin and Greek translations. They claim
to be the first to work with a Syriac version, which they have translated
and “decoded” to reach their conclusions.

Sports

15. BWF provisionally
suspended Lee Chong Wei due to anti-doping regulation violation

Badminton World
Federation (BWF) on 11 November 2014 provisionally suspended Malaysian
badminton player and World No. 1 Lee Chong Wei due to an apparent anti-doping
regulation violation.
The world-governing
body has imposed this suspension due to an Adverse Analytical Finding of a
sample taken at the BWF World Championships in August 2014.
The BWF has referred
the matter to the BWF Doping Hearing Panel and, in due course, the Chair
of the Panel will set the time, date and location of a hearing. The Panel
will determine whether or not the athlete has committed an anti-doping
regulation violation.
The Provisional
Suspension means the athlete is barred temporarily from participation in
any competition prior to the BWF Doping Hearing Panel’s decision.
He won silver at 2008
Beijing and 2012 London Olympics.
He is a four time
Commonwealth Games gold Medalist, Two each in singles and men’s team
events.
He
has won 55 career tittles and was named the BWF player of the year four times.

This post was last modified on November 27, 2017 9:04 am