Current Affairs Update – 18 Sept, 2014

• ·        
  Export-Import Bank of China (China Exim Bank)
  and China Development Bank Corporation (CDB) today signed various agreements
  with SBI, ICICI Bank and Axis Bank to facilitate trade between the two
  countries.
• ·        
  SBI signed an agreement with China Exim Bank
  for a Line of Credit of $ 1.8 billion for imports of raw material, energy,
  equipment, mechanical and electronic products, among others from China.
• ·        
  “State Bank of India and The Export
  Import Bank of China signed a framework agreement for a Line of Credit of $ 1.8
  billion to be offered by The Exim Bank of China.
• ·        
  Private lender ICICI Bank signed an agreement
  with China Exim Bank for $ 1 billion to facilitate short-term and long-term
  credit lines to ICICI Bank for financing purchase and import of Chinese products
  and services by its clients.
• ·        
  Axis Bank signed a MoU with CDB to cater to
  requirements of Chinese companies operating in India.

• ·        
  Pension regulator PFRDA has set up an expert
  committee under chairmanship of former SEBI chief G N Bajpai to review the
  investment guidelines for national pension system (NPS) schemes in private
  sector.
• ·        
  This committee will look at the investment
  guidelines in a “wholesale” manner so as to enable flow of pension monies in
  new instruments such as long term infrastructure bonds to be floated by banks,
  infrastructure debt funds and Basel 3 compliant bonds.
• ·        
  The review of investment guidelines will also
  help revamp the role of pension fund managers (PFMs) and could allow them to
  proactively promote pension products, R.V.Verma, PFRDA Chairman, told Business
  Line here on Thursday.
• ·        
  Current regulations forbid PFMs from
  marketing of pension products, Verma pointed out.
• ·        
  Besides review of investment guidelines for
  NPS in private sector, the committee has also been asked to recommend measures
  for bringing other pension/superannuation funds under the regulatory purview of
  PFRDA.

• ·        
  India today signed a 5-year trade and
  economic cooperation agreement with China with a view to improve the trade
  balance and obtain $20 billion Chinese investment into the country.
• ·        
  The ‘Five year Trade and Economic Development
  Plan’ was signed by Commerce Minister Nirmala Sitharaman and her Chinese
  counterpart Gao Hucheng in presence of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and
  visiting President Xi Jinping.
• ·        
  The agreement lays down a medium term roadmap
  for promoting balanced and sustainable development of economic and trade
  relations between China and India, on the principle of equality and mutual
  benefit.
• ·        
  Among other things, it seeks to reduce
  bilateral trade imbalance and strengthen investment cooperation to realise $20
  billion investment from China in 5 years.

• ·        
  In yet another first for Gujarat, Japan’s
  Mizuho Bank will set up its branch in Ahmedabad by June 2015. Even as Japanese
  investment continues to pour in to the state, this will be first Japanese bank
  to come up in Gujarat as of now.
• ·        
  In this regard, Kashiwagi, India-based Chief
  Executive Officer of Mizuho Bank of Japan also met Gujarat Chief Minister
  Anandiben Patel at Gandhinagar on Thursday.
• ·        
  While briefing the chief minister, Kashiwagi
  stated that Mizuho Bank, which already have had the license from Reserve Bank
  of India, will launch its branch at Ahmedabad from June-2015.
• ·        
  During the meeting, Chief Minister also
  discussed about the services-partnership of Mizuho Bank in forthcoming Vibrant
  Gujarat-2015.

• ·        
  The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on 17
  September 2014 proposed to segregate the post of Chairman and Managing Director
  (CMD) of Public Sector Undertaking (PSU) banks. It also proposed a separate
  committee for appointment of directors on the board of PSU banks.
• ·        
  These proposals are a part of corporate
  governance reforms in PSU banks and are based on the recommendations of various
  committees including the PJ Nayak Committee recommendations.
• ·        
  The proposal of RBI may delay the
  appointments of Chairman in at least ten PSU banks or may bring changes in the
  top management of the PSU banks. Already top position of 4 PSU banks is lying
  vacant which are likely to be filled once government finalises the new norms for
  appointment of bank chairman.
• ·        
  At present, the post of CMD in PSU banks is
  vested with one person only. As a result CMDs of PSU banks enjoy absolute power
  and often dominate the board during their tenure.
• ·        
  The only exception among the PSU banks is
  State Bank of India where the top position is commanded by the chairman and
  there are four managing directors with clearly defined executive roles.

• ·        
  India and China today exchanged 12 documents,
  including one on five years economic and trade development plan.
• ·        
  An agreement on audio visual co-production,
  two documents on railways, another document on work plan for drug
  administration and an MoU on culture were exchanged between the two countries.
• ·        
  A MoU on peaceful use of outer space and a
  twinning agreement between Shanghai and Mumbai were also signed.
• ·        
  Prime Minister Narendra Modi said that
  Chinese President Xi Jinping has assured that he will take concrete steps to
  correct the trade imbalance and give more market access and investment in
  China.
• ·        
  Modi has invited Chinese investments especially
  in Infrastructure. China has committed to invest $20 billion in five years.
• ·        
  Concrete steps on railways were also discussed
  between Modi and Jinping.
• ·        
  Modi said that China has agreed to allow new
  route from Nathula to Kailash Mansarovar. This will also be usable during
  rains.
• ·        
  The Prime Minister has expressed concerns
  over what happened at the borders. Both of them discussed openly and touched on
  difficult issues, he said, adding that boundary issues will sorted out soon.
• ·        
  Modi told the Chinese President that
  clarification on line of control can help. He says that this has been stopped
  for several years and should begin again.
• ·        
  The Prime Minister added that in connection
  with regional connecivity, the BCIM (Bangladesh, China, India and Myanmar)
  trade corridor was also discussed.

• ·        
  Prime Minister Narendra Modi on 17 September
  2014 appointed former McKinsey India Chairman Adil Zainulbhai as the Chairman
  of Quality Council of India (QCI).
• ·        
  He will serve Quality Council of India for a
  period of three years from the date of assumption of charge.

• ·        
  Rajasthan became the first Indian state to
  ratify the National Judicial Appointments Commission (NJAC) Bill 2014. The Bill
  was unanimously passed by the Legislative Assembly of Rajasthan on 17 September
  2014.
• ·        
  The Assembly of Rajasthan also adopted the
  121st Constitutional Amendment Bill that mentions about National Judicial Appointments
  Commission (NJAC).
• ·        
  The Bill seeks to end the two-decade-old
  collegium system of appointments and transfers of judges to higher judiciary.
  It lays down the procedure to be followed by the NJAC for recommending persons
  for appointment as Chief Justice of India and other judges of the Supreme
  Court, and Chief Justice and other judges of High Courts.

• ·        
  Goa on 17 September 2014 became a permanent
  venue for the International Film Festival of India (IFFI).
• ·        
  To make Goa a permanent venue for IFFI, a
  Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) was signed between Information and
  Broadcasting Secretary Bimal Julka and Chief Secretary of Goa State B. Vijayan.
  The MoU was signed in the presence of Union Information and Broadcasting
  Minister Prakash Javadekar and Goa Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar.
• ·        
  The 45th International Film Festival of India
  will be held from 20 November to 30 November 2014 in Goa. The years’ edition of
  the festival will have a new section of Konkani and Marathi cinema, along with
  a separate section on northeastern cinema.

• ·        
  Union Ministry of Road Transport &
  Highways on 16 September 2014 decided to roll out Electronic Toll Collection
  (ETC) programme in the country under the brand name FASTag.
• ·        
  ETC is a programme of electronically making
  the payment on highway tolls without stopping the vehicle at the toll plazas.

• ·        
  International hospitals chain, Columbia Asia
  today announced commissioning of its first hospital in Gujarat and eleventh in
  the country. The 110-bed hospital will be equipped to provide tertiary care
  services.
• ·        
  At a time when chains of private
  multi-specialty hospitals coming up across the state, Columbia Asia looks to
  provide international-quality healthcare services joined with nursing services
  that follow international protocols to provide care and attention to the
  patient.
• ·        
  Speaking to the media in Ahmedabad on
  Thursday, Tufan Ghosh, chief executive office (CEO), maintained that
  considering the potential in the India’s healthcare sector, the hospital chain
  looks at about 18-22 per cent growth in earnings before interest, taxes,
  depreciation and amortization (EBIDTA) in the coming years.
• ·        
  Columbia Asia Hospitals is the first
  hospitals chain in India to utilize 100 per cent foreign direct investment
  (FDI) in the hospital sector. The company has long-term PE investors in the US.

• ·        
  Chinese President Xi Jinping will announce
  the opening of a new and more convenient route for pilgrims to Mansarovar and
  Mount Kailash via Sikkim, rather than Uttarakhand, in Delhi.
• ·        
  Prime Minister Narendra Modi expressed his
  interest in the new route to Mr. Xi during their meeting on the sidelines of
  the BRICS summit in Fortaleza, Brazil, in July.
• ·        
  The new route will now traverse through the
  city of Shigatse to the pilgrimage spot situated at a height of 19,500 feet,
  part of the Tibetan Autonomous Region.
• ·        
  The route has a better highway owing to the
  infrastructure development there.
• ·        
  The decision is a significant gesture for the
  pilgrims. The annual pilgrimage takes place by an arrangement with the External
  Affairs Ministry. Tour operators take pilgrims through the Nepal route.

• ·        
  Chinese President Xi Jinping on 16 September
  2014 appointed Le Yucheng as China’s new Ambassador to India. Le Yucheng
  replaced Wei Wei who previously served as China’s envoy to India.
• ·        
  Prior to his appointment as Ambassador to
  India, he served as the China’s ambassador to Kazakhstan.

• ·        
  The International Economic Association (IEA)
  on 16 September 2014 appointed Kaushik Basu as president-elect of the
  association beginning September 2014. However, he will continue to serve as
  Senior Vice President and Chief Economist of World Bank.
• ·        
  This will be the second time that an Indian
  will be heading this association that produces a large number of research
  papers and books and organizes round tables on topics of contemporary interest.
  Amartya Sen became the first Indian to join IEA.
• ·        
  Kaushik Basu is Senior Vice President and
  Chief Economist of World Bank. He was appointed as Chief Economist at the World
  Bank on 5 September 2012.
• ·        
  He is currently the fourth President of the
  Human Development and Capabilities Association which was founded by Amartya Sen
  and a member of the Board of Directors of the Exim Bank of India.

• ·        
  World’s first water-based nuclear battery was
  developed by Jae W. Kwon’s research group at the University of Missouri (MU).
  This research titled Plasmon-assisted radiolytic energy conversion in aqueous
  solutions was published in the journal Nature on 11 June 2014.
• ·        
  It uses a radioactive isotope called
  strontium-90 that boosts electro-chemical energy in a water-based solution.
• ·        
  A nano-structured titanium dioxide electrode
  with a platinum coating in the battery collects and converts energy into
  electrons.
• ·        
  Water acts as a shield and its efficiency is
  increased by the surface plasmons created in the battery.