Current Affairs Update – 25 Sept, 2014

Finance
1. Indian economy showing turnaround; ADB ups
2015 growth to 6.3%
  • ·
    Revising India’s GDP upwards by 0.3 per cent to 6.3 per cent in 2015,
    Asian Development Bank (ADB) has said the economy shows a new promise of
    turnaround after the election brought a stable government in May.
  • ·
    “India shows new promise of a turnaround. After winning a decisive
    parliamentary election victory, the new (Narendra Modi-led) government is
    better positioned than the old to pursue the reform necessary to unlock the
    economy’s growth potential.
  • ·
    “This Update maintains the 5.5 per cent growth forecast for 2014
    but upgrades….to 6.3 per cent, the forecast for 2015, when reform can begin
    to bear fruit,” ADB said in its Outlook 2014 Update released today.
  • ·
    The reform to stimulate investment, the timely award of environmental
    clearances, and measures to control inflation are expected to augment firming
    export demand from the major industrial economies, to boost economic growth, it
    said.

2. Reliance Jio inks pact for $750-mn loan
from South Korean bank

  • ·
    Reliance Jio, the broadband 4G arm of the Mukesh Ambani-led group,
    Thursday said it has signed a pact for a $750-million loan backed by Korea Exim
    Bank.
  • ·
    The loan is guaranteed by the promoter company Reliance Industries and
    will be primarily used to finance goods and services procured from Samsung
    Electronics for the infrastructure rollout of the 4G arm.
  • ·
    This is the first loan between Reliance group and Korea Exim Bank and
    has a tenor of 12-year term, including a 2 year availability period and
    repayable over 10 years thereafter.
  • ·
    “This deal is notably Korea Exim Bank’s largest telecom
    infrastructure financing till date,” Reliance said in a statement, adding:
    “It is also Korea Exim Bank’s largest deal in India.”
  • ·
    Korea Exim Bank is funding $440 million of the loan as a direct funding
    and the balance under a guarantee by 11 of Reliance’s relationship banks.

India
3. Narendra Modi kicks
off “Make in India” campaign

  • ·
    Prime Minister Narendra Modi said the world
    is ready to come to Asia and India offers best destination as it is a vibrant
    democracy with demographic dividend and huge demand.
  • ·
    Kicking off the ‘Make in India’ campaign, he
    said his government’s focus will be on physical infrastructure creation as well
    as creating a digital network for making India a hub for global manufacturing
    of goods ranging from cars to software, satellites to submarines and paper to
    power.
  • ·
    “I do not only talk about good governance. I
    talk about effective governance and easy governance,” he said, while launching
    the ‘Make in India’ campaign that was attended by a galaxy of industrialists
    and business leaders, including Cyrus Mistry, Mukesh Ambani, Azim Premji, Kumar
    Mangalam Birla, Chanda Kocchar and Y C Deveshwar.

4. Modi to be conferred
with honorary doctorate degree by US varsity
  • ·
    In a move that will further enhance the image
    of Prime Minister Narendra Modi in the international community, the Southern
    University System of Louisiana in United States has decided to confer an
    honorary doctorate degree for his work in the field of inclusive growth.
  • ·
    The announcement could add a new dimension to
    the India-US relationship especially in the context of Modi’s imminent visit to
    the Washington and other US cities.
  • ·
    Today morning, the University board met at
    4.00 am (Indian time) at the Baton Rouge campus and finally approved the
    conferment.
  • ·
    Baton Rogue is the capital of Louisiana State
    and about 150 km from New Orleans. Governor of Louisiana, Bobby Jindal, who has
    Indian roots, was born in Baton Rogue.
  • ·
    Mumbai-based promoter of Abhinav Knowledge
    Services, Pankaj Phadnis, who is also a Post-doctoral Fellow at the University,
    has been the pivotal figure in getting the University understand the work of
    Modi. In August 2013, Phadnis updated the University officials about Modi’s
    achievements in Gujarat.

5. Rajat Sharma
appointed as the president of News Broadcasting Association

  • ·
    India TV chairman and editor-in-chief Rajat
    Sharma on 24 September 2014 was appointed as the new president of the News
    Broadcasting Association (NBA) for the year 2014-2015.
  • ·
    Rajat Sharma will replace KVL Narayan Rao who
    was the president of NBA for four consecutive years. However, Rao will remain a
    member of NBA board.
  • ·
    Anurradha Prasad was named as the new
    honorary treasurer of NBA. Meanwhile, Ashok Venkatramani will continue to be
    the vice president of NBA.

6. Union Government
declared September 25 as Antyodya diwas
  • ·
    Union Government declared 25 September as
    Antyodya Diwas. Antyodya diwas was observed to mark the 98th birth anniversary
    of Pandit Deendayal Upadhyay.
  • ·
    Pandit Deendayal Upadhyay was the noted
    philosopher, historian and political activist.  
  • ·
    Several activities including blood donation
    camps, seminar, symposia were organised across the country.
  • ·
    Pandit Deendayal Upadhyaya (1916 – 1968) was
    an eminent political personality and a profound philosopher. He was an
    organizer par excellence and a prominent leader of Jan Sangh.
  • ·
    He established the publishing house Rashtra
    Dharma Prakashan in Lucknow and launched the monthly magazine Rashtra Dharma to
    propound the principles he held sacred.

7. Amul ranks 15 in global dairy rankings

  • ·
    Gujarat Cooperative Milk Marketing Federation (GCMMF) which markets Amul
    brand of milk and dairy products has risen to the rank of 15 amongst the top
    dairy organisations of the world according to a recent survey by International
    Farm Comparison Network (IFCN), a leading, global dairy knowledge organisation.
    Two years back, Amul had ranked 20 in the list.
  • ·
    According to a GCMMF press release here, “ This has been the fastest
    rise by any top-ranking dairy organisations across the globe.  Just two years back (in 2012), Amul was
    ranked #20 in the list of top global dairy organizations.
  • ·
    According to the latest rankings, USA’s Dairy Farmers of America ranked
    one with a 3.7 per cent share of world milk production at 27.8 million tonnes
    of milk intake.
  • ·
    It has been followed by New Zealand’s Fonterra, France’s Groupe
    Lactalis, Switzerland’s Nestle and Denmark’s Aria Foods. France’s Danone came
    in at the eighth position. GCMMF has been ranked 15th with 4.8 million tonnes
    of milk procurement and a 0.6 per cent share in world milk production.
  • ·
    R S Sodhi, managing director of GCMMF said that the federation plans to
    achieve turnover of Rs 22,000 crore in the financial year 2014-15.

International
8. 3rd Meeting of SAARC
Culture Ministers adopted Delhi Resolution
  • ·
    The 3rd meeting of SAARC Ministers of Culture
    was held in New Delhi from 24 September 2014 to 25 September 2014.  The meeting was held under the chairmanship
    of Minister of State for Culture Shripad Naik.
  • ·
    They adopted the Delhi Resolution as a
    roadmap for cultural relations in the SAARC region for the period 2014–17.

Delhi Resolution
•    To declare 2016–17 as the
SAARC Year of Cultural Heritage. For 2015–16, Bamiyan will be the SAARC
cultural capital and the inauguration ceremony of Bamiyan as SAARC cultural
capital will take place in April 2015.
•    To formulate proposals for
transnational nominations for the world heritage list and a regional list of
heritage sites.
•    To recognize the impact and
contribution of maritime routes and the monsoon as also other inland relations.
•    To enhance interaction
between member countries by redefining cultural linkages through transnational
nominations.

9. Suresh Parbhu
selected as PM’s Sherpa for G-20 summit
  • ·
    Suresh Prabhu on 23 September 2014 was
    appointed as Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Sherpa for the Group of 20 annual
    Summit 2014. He was selected by the Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
  • ·
    The G-20 annual summit will be held in
    Brisbane from 15 November to 16 November 2014.
  • ·
    Suresh Prabhu will attend the G20 Sherpa’s
    meeting that is going to be held in Canberra, Australia from 30 September to 1
    October 2014. Sherpa is a senior official responsible for preparing the agenda
    for leaders to consider during the summit.
  • ·
    Prabhu is Member of Parliament of 14th Lok
    Sabha of India.
  • ·
    He served as cabinet minister of Industries,
    Environment and Forests, Fertilizers & Chemicals and Power, Heavy Industry
    and Public Enterprises.
  • ·
    At present, he is the chairperson of the
    Council on Energy, Environment and Water.

Sports
10. Kapil Dev wins
Lifetime Achievement award in UK

  • ·
    Indian cricket legend Kapil Dev has been
    honoured with a Lifetime Achievement award at a ceremony in the House of Lords
    in London.
  • ·
    The award, constituted by the Indo-European
    Business Forum (IEBF), was presented to the former India World Cup-winning
    captain on Wednesday evening for his contribution to the sport and for his work
    in the field of upliftment of poor and destitute communities through the
    Khushii society.

11. Sushant Rajput to
play MS Dhoni in Dhoni’s Biopic

  • ·
    If Mahendra Singh Dhoni fans have not got
    enough of the cricketer on field then now they will be served ‘captain cool’ on
    the big screen as actor Sushant Singh Rajput is set to portray the Indian skipper
    in a ‘biopic’ come 2015.
  • ·
    With the introductory poster of the film
    titled ‘M.S. Dhoni — The Untold Story’ released in the national dailies on
    Thursday, the movie certainly becomes an awaited event along with the 50-over
    World Cup next year.
  • ·
    The project, which reportedly ran into
    financial problems, is now making headlines and Dhoni’s wife Sakshi was quick
    to share her joy on twitter after she tweeted the first poster of the film.

12. Marvan Atapattu
appointed as head coach of Sri Lankan cricket team
  • ·
    Sri Lankan Cricket Board on 24 September 2014
    appointed the former national cricket team captain Marvan Atapattu as the head
    coach of the national team with immediate effect.
  • ·
    Atapattu’s name was unanimously approved for
    the post by the executive committee of Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC). However, SLC
    doesn’t disclose the terms and tenure of his appointment.
  • ·
    With this appointment, Atapattu became Sri
    Lanka’s first full-time local coach in 15 years. The last Sri Lankan full-time
    coach of the national team was Roy Dias in 1999.
  • ·
    Apart from this, Atapattu is the seventh
    coach to be appointed by Sri Lanka in past since 2010. The other six coaches
    were Trevor Bayliss, Stuart Law, Rumesh Ratnayake, Geoff Marsh, Graham Ford and
    Farbrace.

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