Current Affairs Update – 16-17 Nov, 2014

• ·        
  Leading online fashion store Myntra.com in the month of July 2014 named
  Bollywood actress Kangana Ranaut as its brand ambassador.
• ·        
  As part of her new assignment, Kangana will feature in some of the
  promotional initiatives by the brand.
• ·        
  Kangana Ranaut was born in 1987 in Bhambia town (now Surajpur) of Mandi
  district of Himachal Pradesh. She started made her feature film debut with Gangster
  in 2006 for which she was awarded the Filmfare Award for Best Female
  Debut. 
• ·        
  Since then she has earned many accomplishments and laurels for her
  sublime acting. These include National Film Award for Best Supporting Actress
  for Fashion released in 2008 and a Filmfare Award in the same category for the
  same movie.
• ·        
  Among many of her hit films, some are Wo Lamhe (2006), Life in a Metro
  (2007), Raaz: The Mystery continues (2009), Once Upon a Time in Mumbai (2010),
  comedy film Tanu Weds Manu (2011) and Krrish 3 (2013).

• ·        
  Reserve Bank Governor Raghuram Rajan, a Union Cabinet Minister and a
  well-known banker in infrastructure finance have figured so far in discussions
  on possible candidates for BRICS’ New Development Bank president. This short
  list is not final; the Modi government is scouting for more names before it
  takes a decision on the nomination, a Finance Ministry source told.
• ·        
  Prime Minister Narendra Modi, in his opening statement at the BRICS leaders’
  meet in Brisbane on Saturday, proposed that 2016 be set as the target for the
  inauguration of the BRICS Bank. “We hope to ratify the agreement by the end of
  the year… We would soon nominate our candidate for the post of the presidency,”
  Mr. Modi said. The BRICS nations — Brazil, Russia, India, China and South
  Africa — had agreed at their sixth Summit in Fortaleza that India will nominate
  the first president of the bank and that its headquarters will be located in
  China.
• ·        
  The Modi government has not formally reached out to Mr. Rajan as yet,
  the source said. He also indicated that ultimately it might become difficult
  for India to spare Mr. Rajan for the role.
• ·        
  Volatility in the rupee has reduced and external account stabilised over
  the first 14 months of Mr. Rajan’s tenure at the Reserve Bank.

• ·        
  Leaders of the world’s 20 developed and emerging economies today vowed
  to boost global GDP by over $2 trillion over the next five years by investing
  in infrastructure and increasing trade, aimed at boosting the global recovery
  amid geopolitical tensions.
• ·        
  In a three-page statement issued at the end of the G20 Summit here, the
  world leaders, including Prime Minister Narendra Modi and US President Barack
  Obama, said, “raising global growth to deliver better living standards and
  quality jobs for people across the world is our highest priority.”
• ·        
  The statement said the global economy is being held back by a shortfall
  in demand, while addressing supply constraints is key to lifting potential
  growth.
• ·        
  “Risks persist, including in financial markets and from geopolitical
  tensions. We commit to work in partnership to lift growth, boost economic
  resilience and strengthen global institutions,” it said.
• ·        
  “We are determined to overcome these challenges and step up our efforts
  to achieve strong, sustainable and balanced growth, and to create jobs.
• ·        
  “We are implementing structural reforms to lift growth and private
  sector activity, recognising that well-functioning markets underpin
  prosperity,” it added.
• ·        
  “This year we set an ambitious goal to lift the G20’s GDP by at least an
  additional two per cent by 2018. Analysis by the IMF-OECD indicates that our
  commitments, if fully implemented, will deliver 2.1 per cent. This will add
  more than $2 trillion to the global economy and create millions of jobs,” it
  said.

• ·        
  India and Republic of Korea on 17 November 2014 signed an A Memorandum
  of Understanding (MoU) to facilitate technical cooperation in Railway sector
  between the two countries.
• ·        
  The MoU was signed between the Union Ministry of Railways of India and
  the Ministry of Land Infrastructure and Transport (MOLIT) of Republic of Korea
  (South Korea).
• ·        
  The MoU will facilitate technical assistance and cooperation between the
  Railways of the two countries on areas such as High Speed Rail, Modernisation
  of Rolling Stock, Railway Operations, Modernisation of Signalling, Construction
  & Maintenance technologies and in development of Logistics Parks/Terminals.

• ·        
  Modi Express, a four boggy train was flagged off by an Australian
  Victorian Multicultural Minister Matthew Guy in Melbourne on 16 November 2014.
• ·        
  It was flagged off to honour Narendra Modi and celebrate his first
  official visit as Prime Minister to Australia. The service was organised by the
  Overseas Friends of BJP.
• ·        
  The train was flagged off at Southern Cross Station – a major railway
  station and transport hub for Melbourne. It is the first time in the history of
  Melbourne, that a train service was organised under the name of a Prime
  Minister.
• ·        
  The special train that carried over 220 passengers was launched to help
  people to attend Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s first public lecture in Sydney
  on 17 November 2014.
• ·        
  The train was decorated with tri-colour balloons and posters and banners
  of Modi and iconic places of India. During the journey, delicacies like Modi
  Dhokla and Modi Fafda were served for free to the passengers.

• ·        
  Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) on 14 November 2014 approved two
  major projects entailing an investment of 10600 crore rupees to enhance
  production from Western Offshore fields.
• ·        
  The projects are
• ·        
  Redevelopment (Phase-III) of Mumbai High (South)- capital investment of
  6069 crore rupees
• ·        
  Integrated Development of Mukta, Bassein and Panna Formations-at an
  estimated Capex of 4620 crore rupees
• ·        
  The implementation of the Mumbai High (South) project will lead to
  incremental gain of 7.547 million tonne (MMT) crude oil and 3.864 billion cubic
  meter (BCM) gas by 2030.
• ·        
  The Mukta, Bassein and Panna formations project located at a water depth
  of 50-70 m and about 80-90 km from Mumbai coast is designed. It is designed to
  carry forward the success of the previous two phases of redevelopment through
  installation of booster compressors in year 1999 to boost delivery pressure
  from 55 to 105 Kg/cm2 and in 2007 to boost pressure from 25 to 60 kg/cm2.

• ·        
  Steel Authority of India (SAIL) Chairman CS Verma  was on 14 November 2014 conferred with the
  IIM- JRD Tata Award for Excellence in Corporate leadership in Metallurgical
  Industries for the year 2014.
• ·        
  Verma was presented with a scroll of honour along with a cash prize of 5
  lakh rupees by Union Minister of Mines & Steel Narendra Singh Tomar.
• ·        
  He is the first Chairman from SAIL to receive this honour and is among those
  who have been conferred with this award earlier including Ratan N Tata and Dr.
  E Sreedharan.
• ·        
  The IIM- JRD Tata Award for Excellence in Corporate leadership in
  Metallurgical Industries was instituted by Tata Steel Ltd in 2007, the
  Centenary year of Tata Steel and Diamond Jubilee year of the Indian Institute
  of Metals (IIM).

• ·        
  The National Skill Development Corporation (NSDC) on 6 November 2014
  signed Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Tata Motors for collaboration on
  various skill development programmes in the automotive sector.
• ·        
  The MoU was signed by NSDC MD & CEO Dilip Chenoy and Tata Motors
  Executive Director (Commercial Vehicle) Ravindra Pisharody.

• ·        
  Automobile skills will be introduced as one of the vocational subjects
  for 11th and 12th standard students at some of the government schools. These
  schools will be identified by Tata Motors in partnership with state
  governments.
• ·        
  Depending on the outcomes of the pilot programme, the full scale plan
  will be launched.
• ·        
  The students trained under this partnership will be preferred in
  hirings, based on the level of skill certificate that they secure from the
  programme.
• ·        
  The pilot programme will start with five schools with an average of 50
  students per school, a total of 250 candidates.
• ·        
  It will also facilitate placement for students from National Institute
  of Open Schooling, trained on National Occupation Standards.
• ·        
  NSDC will facilitate a Job Mela at the location prescribed by Tata
  Motors for recruitment of NIOS passed students.
• ·        
  NSDC and Tata Motors will also be working on a Driver Training Program
  by establishing driving schools in partnerships with State Governments at
  various places, as mutually agreed with all stakeholders.
• ·        
  Tata Motors will be the knowledge partner and provide the course content,
  and also train the trainer.
• ·        
  While NSDC will pitch the model to state government(s) and look to work
  with them on a pilot basis, funding for the tuition fees will be either state
  sponsored or charged from the students.

• ·        
  Adopting a village in Andhra Pradesh’s Nellore district, batting legend
  Sachin Tendulkar today exhorted the people to give equal importance to boys and
  girls and make them educated as he advised the men to shun alcohol and tobacco
  consumption.
• ·        
  “This is a model village which we are trying to create and it should set
  an example for the rest of the country… This is just the beginning,” the
  Rajya Sabha member said in Puttamrajuvari Kandrika village, which he adopted
  under the ’Sansad Adarsh Gram Yojana’ programme.
• ·        
  Tendulkar laid foundation for the construction of Rs. 2.79 crore worth
  developmental works (in the first phase), including a community centre,
  ‘Aanganwadi’ (government-run women and child care centre) school with kitchen,
  a playground, waiting halls and toilets.
• ·        
  An oath was administered to the villagers on the occasion asking them to
  shun tobacco and alcohol consumption.

• ·        
  The city of Lord Krishna will have a new tourist attraction by 2020. The
  world’s largest religious structure, the ‘Cnadrodaya Mandir’, is coming up in
  Vrindavan, conceived by the devotees of the International Society for Krishna
  Consciousness (ISKCON), Bangalore, which is also known for its Akshaya Patra
  mid-day meal kitchens across India.
• ·        
  On Sunday, President Pranab Mukherjee presided over the ‘Anant Shesha
  Sthapana Puja’ at the project site, a little over a two-hour road journey from
  Delhi. The ceremony marked the placing of Lord Ananta Shesha beneath the
  foundation of the skyscraper temple for Lord Krishna. The idea is that the
  entire temple building will stand on the hoods of Ananta Shesha (snake).
• ·        
  The temple, estimated to cost Rs. 300 crore, will be over 700 feet or
  210 metres tall. It will have a 70-storey structure and visitors will be able
  to reach its top with the help of a capsule lift. It will be surrounded by 28
  forests with all the flora and fauna mentioned in Krishna epics. The complex
  will have 11 lakh square feel of carpet area, out of which the temple will be
  built on one lakh square feet and facilities in three lakh square feet area.
  The remaining seven lakh square feet will be used to develop educational
  facilities.
• ·        
  The 26 acres around the temple would re-establish the glory of the
  forest during Krishna’s period, will have a musical fountain, a Bhagwat
  discourse centre, a kund (boring) of holy water of river Yamuna, Brij heritage
  village and cow shelter, which would form a part of the theme park.

• ·        
  The Centre has agreed to include compensation to be paid to States for
  Goods and Services Tax (GST) rollout as part of the Constitutional Amendment
  Bill.
• ·        
  “The compensation structure would form part of the Bill. It will be paid
  in tranches to the States,” an official said.
• ·        
  A consensus on this crucial issue will make it easier of the Centre to
  introduce the GST Bill in the ensuing winter session of Parliament beginning on
  November 24.
• ·        
  The official further said that the Finance Ministry has floated a draft
  Cabinet note on GST for inter-ministerial consultations.
• ·        
  “The first tranche of compensation to States will be made available in
  the upcoming session,” the official added.
• ·        
  However, the official added that further discussions would be needed on
  revenue neutral GST rate and threshold limit for imposing the levy.

• ·        
  T.R.K. Rao has assumed charge as Director (Commercial) of NMDC Ltd, a
  Navaratna enterprise, under the Ministry of Steel.
• ·        
  Rao, who is from 1986 batch of Indian Railway Traffic Service (IRTS),
  held key positions in the Ministry of Railways. His earlier positions included
  Vice-Chairman-cum-Managing Director of A.P. Mineral Development Corporation
  Ltd., Hyderabad, Managing Director of Sports Authority and Executive Director
  (Finance, Marketing & Public Relations) in Singareni Collieries Ltd.
• ·        
  He had also served as a Special Secretary Infrastructure and Revenue
  (Disaster Management) in Government of AP. In Railways, he worked as Additional
  Divisional Manager and Deputy General Manager and other senior level
  assignments.
• ·        
  He holds Doctorate Degree from Indian Agricultural Institute, New Delhi
  and also Master in Economic Policy Management from Columbia University. Rao
  also worked as Consultant at the World Bank, Washington DC and served as
  Director on Boards of Hindustan Shipyard Ltd, GMR Hyderabad and Visakhapatnam
  Port Trust.

• ·        
  The Telangana Government has named Tangedu (Senna auriculata) and
  Krishna Jink (Black Buck) as the State’s flower and animal. Jammi Chettu
  (Prosopis cineraria) has been named the new State’s new tree and Pala Pitta (Indian
  roller) its State bird.
• ·        
  Chief Minister K Chandrasekhara Rao has announced the names at a meeting
  held here on Monday. He said Tangedu, Krishna Jinka, Jammi Chettu and Pala
  Pitta have been part of Telangana culture and fit fell to become the symbols of
  the State.

• ·        
  India and the US have signed a memorandum of understanding for putting
  in place an infrastructure collaboration platform that will help the US
  industry to participate in projects in India.
• ·        
  “This MoU establishes a platform under which both the Governments intend
  to coordinate and cooperate with the goal of facilitating US industry
  participation in Indian infrastructure projects to improve the bilateral
  commercial relationship and benefit both the economies,” an official release
  said. The document was signed by Dinesh Sharma, Additional Secretary,
  Department of Economic Affairs and Arun Kumar, Assistant Secretary of Commerce
  for Global Markets, US Department of Commerce.
• ·        
  Representatives from infrastructure ministries such as Urban
  Development, Commerce and Industry, Railways, Road Transport and Highways,
  Micro Small and Medium Enterprises, Power, New & Renewable Energy,
  Information and Broadcasting, Communications & Information Technology,
  Water Resources, River Development and Ganga Rejuvenation attended the meeting.

• ·        
  Sudbury Basin impact crater in Ontario, Canada was formed due to comet
  impact. Sudbury Basin also called Sudbury Structure, formed 1.8 million years
  ago, is one of the oldest and second largest impact craters on the Earth.
• ·        
  This was revealed by a study titled On the Track of the Elusive Sudbury
  Impact: Geochemical Evidence for a Chondrite or Comet Bolide published in the
  latest issue of Journal Terra Nova. The lead author of the study is Joseph A
  Petrus.

• ·        
  The mayor of Sibiu Klaus Werner Iohannis on 16 November 2014 won the
  2014 presidential elections in Romania by defeating Prime Minister Victor Ponta
  of Social Democratic Party (PSD).
• ·        
  Klaus Iohannis belongs to Christian Liberal Alliance of Romania.
  Iohannis got 54.81 percent of the votes compared to only 45.18 percent of the
  votes for Victor Ponta.
• ·        
  Iohannis will replace the incumbent Traian Basescu who cannot stand for
  re-election after serving as President for two terms.
• ·        
  Iohannis managed to  mobilize
  Romanians and get them to vote after the first round of the presidential
  elections that were held on 2 November 2014 
  when he lost to Ponta. He then got only 34 percent of the votes,
  compared to 44 percent for Ponta.

• ·        
  China will play host to the Group of Twenty (G20) Summit of the emerging
  economies in 2016. The decision was announced by Australian Prime Minister Tony
  Abbott on 16 November 2014 in Brisbane.
• ·        
  In 2014, G20 Summit was hosted by Australia. Turkey took over the
  presidency from Australia and will host the event in Antalya in 2015. With
  China being selected for the 2016 presidency, the G20 troika would now consist of
  Turkey, Australia and China.
• ·        
  The leaders of the Group of 20 also announced a plan to boost global
  growth by more than 2 trillion US dollars over five years.
• ·        
  The G20 is a major platform for dialogue and coordination between
  developed and developing big countries. Unlike some other international
  organizations, the G20 has no permanent staff of its own.

• ·        
  China and Australia on 17 November 2014 signed Free Trade Agreement
  (FTA). The agreement was witnessed by the President of China Xi Jinping and
  Prime Minister of Australia Tony Abbott. 
• ·        
  It will ensure 85 percent of all exports of Australia will enter China
  tariff-free and will rise to 93 percent within four years and 95 percent when
  it is in full force.

• ·        
  The agreement gives Australian dairy farmers, wine-makers and other
  sectors tariff-free access to the huge market of China within a few years.
• ·        
  It will put eventual removal of tariffs on dairy products, live animal
  exports, resources and energy products.
• ·        
  Tariffs on all resources and energy products will be removed within two
  years.
• ·        
  Beef and sheep farmers will benefit from the abolition of tariffs
  ranging from 12-25 percent over next nine years.
• ·        
  All tariffs on dairy products will be scrapped within four to eleven
  years.
• ·        
  Lock in zero tariffs on major exports like iron ore, gold, crude
  petroleum oil and LNG.
• ·        
  All tariffs on horticulture and live animal exports will be eliminated,
  while wine makers tariff will be cut up to 14-30 percent 
• ·        
  Wool producers will be able to export another 30000 tonnes of clean wool
  on top of existing quotas.
• ·        
  However, cotton, wheat, sugar and rice and oilseeds industries have
  missed out.

• ·        
  Food and Drug Administration (FDA) of the US on 6 November 2014 withdrew
  the previously granted tentative marketing approvals for the Ranbaxy’s
  anti-ulcer drug Nexium and HIV infection drug Valcyte.
• ·        
  With this Ranbaxy lost its six-month market exclusivity for its ANDAs
  (abbreviated new drug application) for Valycyte and may also lose the six-month
  market exclusivity for the Nexium copy in the US. This is because there is
  pressure mounting on FDA to look at other generic applicants on account of a
  five-month delay in Ranbaxy’s launch of its version of Nexium.
• ·        
  The withdrawal of the approval was taken after FDA determined that
  Ranbaxy’s ANDAs for Nexium and Valcyte did not have any data integrity issues
  and its original decisions granting tentative approvals were in error because
  of the compliance status of the facilities at the time of tentative
  approvals. 

• ·        
  Indian shuttlers Saina Nehwal and Kidambi Srikanth on 16 November 2014
  clinched women’s and men’s singles title of the 700000 US dollar China Open
  Super Series Premier of Badminton respectively, in Fuzhou, China.
• ·        
  Olympic bronze-medalist Saina defeated Akane Yamaguchi of Japan in the
  women’s singles final. In her sixth appearance in the prestigious tournament,
  World No. 5 Saina prevailed over the 17-year-old Akane 21-12, 22-20 in the
  women’s singles final.
• ·        
  On the other hand, Srikanth defeated two-time Olympic champion and five
  time world champion Lin Dan of China in straight game 21-19, 21-17 in the men’s
  singles final. This was maiden Super Series title for Srikanth.
• ·        
  This was the first time that any Indian male shuttler has won a Super
  Series Premier event since the Super Series and Premier tournaments were
  introduced.

• ·        
  World number one Serbian tennis player Novak Djokovic was crowned
  champion of ATP World Tour finals at O2 Arena in London, UK on 16 November
  2014. He was crowned after world number two Swiss Roger Federer withdrew from
  the title clash due to a back injury.
• ·        
  This was Djokovic’s fourth season ending title. With this win, he also
  became the first tennis player to win three World Tour Finals titles
  consecutively since Ivan Lendl of US who won it from 1985 to 1987. The only
  other player to win three straight year-end titles was Ilie Nastase of Romania
  from 1971-73.
• ·        
  This was the third time that Federer had pulled out of the final and in
  his career. He pulled out of the Paris Masters before playing American James
  Blake in 2008 and before playing French Jo-Wilfried Tsonga in 2012 in Doha.

• ·        
  Indian cricket team on 16 November 2014 won 5-match ODI series against
  Sri Lanka, 5-0. In the fifth and final match of the series played at JSCA
  Stadium Complex in Ranchi, Jharkhand, India defeated Sri Lanka by 3 wickets.
• ·        
  Starting the innings, Sri Lanka posted 286 for 8 with skipper Angelo
  Mathews superb innings of 139 not out.
• ·        
  In reply, Indian captain Virat Kohli became the fastest to hit 21 ODI
  centuries as the hosts overhauled the target with 8 balls to spare. He made a
  blistering 139 not out.
• ·        
  Virat Kohli was declared Man of the Series.
• ·        
  Virat Kohli became the fastest cricketer to hit 21 ODI centuries. He
  took just 138 Innings to make 21 ODI centuries as compared to Sachin Tendulkar
  who had taken 200 innings to get to 21 hundreds in the one-day format.
• ·        
  Virat Kohli became the fastest cricketer in the history to reach 6000
  one-day international run mark and overtook legendary West Indian Vivian
  Richards’ record.
• ·        
  Indian cricketer Rohit Sharma scored the highest ODI score ever of 264
  runs, which is also the second-highest List A score. With this he also became
  the first cricketer to make two double ODI centuries.

• ·        
  The Justice Mukul Mudgal panel found former BCCI president N. Srinivasan
  not guilty of match-fixing nor of having tried to prevent the investigation but
  stated that he and four other BCCI officials knew about a player violating the
  Indian Premier League (IPL) code of conduct, but took no action.
• ·        
  The name of the player and the details of the violation were not
  specified. Mr. Srinivasan was among the 13 names probed by the Supreme
  Court-appointed panel for corruption in the IPL.
• ·        
  The panel which also included L. Nageswara Rao, Additional
  Solicitor-General and senior advocate Nilay Dutta, had submitted its interim
  report on February 10, indicting Gurunath Meiyappan for betting.