Current Affairs Update – 17 Sept, 2014

Finance
1. IndiGo inks $2.6 bn
aircraft finance deal with ICBC
  • ·        
    IndiGo has signed a $2.6 billion deal with
    Industrial and Commercial Bank of China Ltd (ICBC) for the lender to finance
    more than 30 new aircraft, the carrier said in a statement on Wednesday.
  • ·        
    The announcement comes on the day Chinese
    President Xi Jinping arrived in India, where the two countries are expected to
    sign trade and investment deals worth billions of dollars.
  • ·        
    Under the memorandum of understanding, ICBC
    will provide IndiGo with financing for the planes through either a sale and
    leaseback, financial lease or commercial lending deal, IndiGo president Aditya
    Ghosh said in the statement.
  • ·        
    Privately owned IndiGo said it will use the
    deal to add Airbus A320 planes to its fleet.
  • ·        
    The majority of IndiGo’s fleet is financed
    through sale and leaseback agreements — under which a third party owns the
    planes and then rents them to the airline — and is one factor analysts say has
    helped keep the airline profitable while India’s other big carriers lose money in
    a highly competitive market.
  • ·        
    IndiGo, owned by InterGlobe Enterprises, is
    planning on listing on the Mumbai stock exchange next year, people involved in
    the deal previously told Reuters.

2. Exim Bank extends
$100 mn line of credit to Vietnam

  • ·        
    The Export-Import Bank of India [Exim Bank] on Wednesday said at the behest of Government of India it has extended an
    additional Line of Credit (LoC) of $100 million to the Government of the
    Socialist Republic of Vietnam for financing the purchase of equipment/supplies
    in Vietnam.
  • ·        
    With the signing of the LoC Agreement, Exim
    Bank, till date has extended four Lines of Credit to Vietnam, taking the total
    value of LoCs extended to Vietnam to $191.50 million.
  • ·        
    The LoCs have supported export of items like
    equipment for hydro power project, cold rolling steel, carding and spinning
    machines, hydraulic power equipment, and tea processing machinery and the Nam
    Chien Hydropower Project in Vietnam.
  • ·        
    Under the LoC, Exim Bank will reimburse 100
    per cent of contract value to the Indian exporters, upfront upon shipment of
    goods. The LoC will be used for sourcing of goods and services from India.
  • ·        
    Exim Bank has now in place 195 Lines of
    Credit, covering over 75 countries in Africa, Asia, Latin America, Europe and
    the CIS, with credit commitments of over $10.71 billion, available for
    financing exports from India.

3. HSBC report says
India could become fastest growing exporter by 2030

  • ·        
    India is likely to become the world’s fastest
    growing exporter and UAE’s top export and import destination by 2030, according
    to a study.
  • ·        
    The latest HSBC Trade Forecast yesterday said
    India has the potential to become the world’s fifth largest exporter of goods
    by value from the 14th spot from 2014 to 2030.
  • ·        
    Besides India, the UAE’s fastest growing
    export markets will be China, Malaysia, Turkey — each of which will see the
    fastest growth rates between 2017 and 2030.
  • ·        
    Import growth for the UAE will be fastest for
    goods originating from China, India, Turkey and Vietnam.

India
4. India, China sign three Gujarat-specific
pacts
  • ·        
    On the first day of Chinese President Xi Jinping’s visit to Gujarat,
    three Memorandums of Understanding (MoUs) were signed between China and the
    state, in the presence of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
  • ·        
    The first MoU was signed between the government of Gujarat and Guangdong
    Province in South China.
  • ·        
    The second MoU is for a twin-city project between of Guangzhou, capital
    of Guangdong and the Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation.
  • ·        
    The third one was signed between the China Development Bank and iNDEXTb
    (Industrial Extension Bureau) – a State government body for facilitating
    investments.
  • ·        
    The MoUs are aimed at sharing governance experiences, building
    industrial park and other initiatives in the area of trade and co-operation.

5. Prime Minister Narendra Modi turns 64
  • ·        
    Following a tradition he commenced in 1967, when he left home to join
    the society full-time, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who turned 64 on
    Wednesday, met his nonagenarian mother, Hiraben, here to seek her blessings.
  • ·        
    The affectionate mother, 94, blessed her illustrious son in an emotional
    reunion. Sitting on a plastic chair, she also fed “laddoo” to Modi and gifted
    Rs. 5,001 which would be donated towards the PM’s Relief Fund for the flood
    victims of Jammu and Kashmir. Modi spent about 15 minutes with his mother and
    other family members.
  • ·        
    When Modi took her blessings on September 17, 2013, she had gifted him
    Rs. 11 while on May 22, before he left for New Delhi to take oath as PM, she
    had gifted Rs. 501.
  • ·        
    Although the Gujarat Government launched a series of welfare programmes
    to mark Modi’s birthday during his presence here, the PM had urged the people
    not to celebrate the occasion with pomp and donate liberally for providing
    relief to the flood victims of Jammu and Kashmir.

6. Advani becomes chairman of Lok Sabha’s
Ethics Committee
  • ·        
    Lok Sabha Speaker Sumitra Mahajan appointed BJP veteran L.K. Advani as
    the chairman of the prestigious Ethics Committee of Lok Sabha.
  • ·        
    Manikrao Gavit of Congress was heading the Committee in the last Lok
    Sabha.
  • ·        
    Other members of the Committee are A Arunmozhithevan, Ninong Ering, Sher
    Singh Ghubaya, Hemant Tukaram Godse, Pralhad Joshi, Bhagatsingh Koshyari, Arjun
    Ram Meghwal, Bhartruhari Mahtab, Kariya Munda, Jayshreeben Patel, Malla Reddy,
    Sumedhanand Saraswati and Bhola Singh.
  • ·        
    The 86-year-old Advani is a member of the Committee on Public
    Undertakings headed by Shanta Kumar (BJP) and Committee on Information
    Technology headed by young BJP MP Anurag Thakur.
  • ·        
    Another BJP veteran Murli Manohar Joshi is heading the Committee on
    Estimates. Party senior Maj Gen B C Khanduri is heading the Committee on
    Defence.
  • ·        
    The Ethics Committee examines every complaint relating to unethical
    conduct of a member referred to it.

7. Lalitha Kumaramangalam appointed NCW
chairperson
  • ·        
    The Union Ministry of Women and Child Development has appointed BJP
    national executive member Lalitha Kumaramangalam as the new chief of the National
    Commission for Women (NCW).
  • ·        
    Ms. Kumaramanglam is an alumnus of St. Stephen’s College and has Delhi
    and has an MBA from Madras University. She runs Prakriti, an NGO and contested
    the Lok Sabha elections in 2004 and 2009.

8. India, US starts joint military exercise
in Uttarakhand
  • ·        
    India and the US today kickstarted their joint military exercise at
    Chaubattia in Uttarakhand where they will practice counter-terrorist
    operations.
  • ·        
    “The focus of the ongoing exercise is to carryout counter-
    insurgency and counter-terrorist operations in mountainous terrain under the
    United Nations (UN) Charter where the troops of an American infantry division
    will hold drills with the Garud division of the Indian Army,” an Army
    release said.
  • ·        
    Army’s Central Command officer Maj Gen Ashwani Kumar urged both the
    contingents to achieve optimum cohesion and interoperability to achieve objectives
    of the exercise.

International
9. Leonardo DiCaprio
appointed as UN Messenger of Peace
  • ·        
    Academy Award-nominated actor and
    environmental activist Leonardo DiCaprio has been designated the United Nations
    Messenger of Peace by UN chief Ban Ki-moon, with a special focus on climate
    change.
  • ·        
    “DiCaprio is a credible voice in the
    environmental movement, and has a considerable platform to amplify its message.
    I am pleased he has chosen to add his voice to UN efforts to raise awareness of
    the urgency and benefits of acting now to combat climate change,” Ban said
    yesterday.
  • ·        
    The UN chief said that DiCaprio’s “first act”
    in his new role as Messenger of Peace will be to address the opening of the
    Climate Change Summit on September 23 in New York that has been convened by the
    Secretary General.
  • ·        
    The day-long Summit will see participation
    from about 120 heads of state and governments as well as leaders from
    government, business, finance and civil society to promote climate action for a
    healthy planet, sustainable economic growth and better standards of living for
    all.
  • ·        
    Ban praised DiCaprio’s longstanding
    commitment to fighting for environmental causes, particularly the substantial
    funds raised and generous grants provided to environmental protection and
    conservation projects through his foundation.
  • ·        
    DiCaprio, 39, said he is honoured to accept
    his new role of UN Messenger of Peace on Climate Change and to support the
    Secretary General “in his efforts to address one of the most important issues
    we face as a global community.

10. Chinese President Xi
Jinping inaugurates Colombo Port City

  • ·        
    Chinese President Xi Jinping on Wednesday
    inaugurated a $1.4 billion port city being built on an artificial island near
    Colombo.
  • ·        
    The Colombo Port City, funded largely by
    Chinese loans, is designed to become a key link in a maritime route China hopes
    will boost trade with Europe.
  • ·        
    Mr. Xi and Sri Lankan President Mahinda
    Rajapaksa cut a ribbon to officially launch the project during a ceremony.
  • ·        
    Aside from offering a base to international
    shippers, the port city is expected to ease traffic and congestion in Colombo’s
    busy business district

Sports
11. Boxer Manoj wins
court battle against govt, to get Arjuna
  • ·        
    Forced to take the legal route after being
    denied the honour initially, Indian boxer Manoj Kumar will be bestowed the
    Arjuna Award as the Sports Ministry has finally accepted his nomination.
  • ·        
    Manoj, a 2010
    Commonwealth Games gold-medallist
    , told PTI that he was informed of the Ministry’s
    decision this morning.
  • ·        
    “Mr. Onkar Kedia, Joint Secretary (sports), informed
    my brother Rajesh of the development last evening. But the information reached
    me only this morning,” Manoj, who would be competing in the upcoming Asian
    Games in Incheon, said.
  • ·        
    The controversial recommendation of boxer Jai
    Bhagwan for the Arjuna Awards had led to Manoj approaching the Sports Ministry
    officials, who, he said, had assured him that his name would be added to a list
    of 15 athletes in a review meeting.
  • ·        
    But after being snubbed for a second time in
    the review meeting, Manoj took the legal route and filed a case in the Delhi
    High Court.

12. Indonesia set to be
awarded 2018 Asian Games
  • ·        
    Indonesia is poised to be selected as the
    host of the next Asian Games in 2018 after Vietnam withdrew because of
    financial concerns, the president of the Olympic Council of Asia (OCA) told
    Reuters on Wednesday.
  • ·        
    The decision will be formally ratified at an
    OCA General Assembly in South Korea on Saturday but OCA President Sheikh Ahmad Al-Fahad Al-Sabah told Reuters that
    there was an agreement in place to give the multi-sports event to Jakarta.
  • ·        
    Jakarta has
    only ever hosted the Games once before, in 1962
    . The decision to award
    the Games to Indonesia was widely expected after India decided not to step in
    to replace Hanoi and other countries balked at the finances involved.
  • ·        
    Hanoi was awarded the Games in November 2012
    ahead of the Indonesian city of Surabaya but Vietnamese Prime Minister Nguyen
    Tan Dung pulled the plug, saying Vietnam was suffering from the effects of
    global recession and the state was unable to foot the bill for facilities and
    venues.

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