Current Affairs Update – 16-17 Nov, 2014

Finance / Business

1. Myntra.com named Kangana Ranaut as its
brand ambassador

  • ·
    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).

2. Raghuram Rajan on shortlist for BRICS bank
chief post

  • ·
    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.

3. G20 leaders vow to boost global GDP by
over $2 trillion
  • ·
    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
4. India and Republic of Korea signed MoU on
Technical Cooperation in the Railway sector
  • ·
    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.

5. Modi Express in honour of Prime Minister
Narendra Modi flagged off in Melbourne, Australia

  • ·
    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.

6. ONGC to invest 10600 crore rupees in two
projects in Western offshore
  • ·
    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.

7. SAIL Chairman CS Verma received IIM- JRD
Tata Award for Excellence in Corporate leadership
  • ·
    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).

8. NSDC signed MoU with Tata Motors for skill
development programmes in automotive sector
  • ·
    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.



Details of the MoU

  • ·
    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.

9. Sachin Tendulkar adopts a village in A.P.

  • ·
    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.

10. World’s tallest religious structure at
Vrindavan

  • ·
    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.

11. GST compensation to be included in
Constitutional Bill
  • ·
    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.

12. TRK Rao assumes charge as Director of
NMDC
  • ·
    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.

13. Black Buck Telangana’s State animal
  • ·
    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.

14. India, US sign infra development pact

  • ·
    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.

International
15. Sudbury Basin impact crater, one of the
oldest and largest, formed due to comet impact: Study
  • ·
    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.

16. Klaus Werner Iohannis won Romanian
presidential elections 2014

  • ·
    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.

17. China to host G20 Summit of the emerging
economies in 2016, Turkey in 2015
  • ·
    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.

18. China and Australia signed Free Trade
Agreement
  • ·
    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 Free Trade agreement includes

  • ·
    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.

19. FDA withdrew previously granted marketing
approvals for anti-ulcer and HIV infection drug of Ranbaxy
  • ·
    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.

Sports
20. Saina Nehwal and Kidambi Srikanth won
China open singles titles of Badminton

  • ·
    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.

21. Serbian Maestro Novak Djokovic won ATP
World Tour Finals

  • ·
    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.

22. India cricket team won the 5-match ODI
series against Sri Lanka by 5-0
  • ·
    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.

23. Srinivasan did not fix matches or scuttle
probe, says panel

  • ·
    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.

This post was last modified on November 27, 2017 9:03 am