Current Affairs Update – 9-10-11-12 Jan, 2015

• Union Government will provide 60 million US dollars Line
  of Credit (LoC) to Guyana for its road infrastructure projects and passenger
  ferry service. The LoC will help the country in tackling its transport problem.
• The decision of granting the LoC was made by Prime
  Minister Narendra Modi during the bilateral talks with Guyana President Donald
  R. Ramotar on the sidelines of the 13th Pravasi Bhartiya Divas in Gandhinagar,
  Gujarat on 8 January 2015. Guyana President is the chief guest of Pravasi
  Bhartiya Divas.

• The Indian Green Building Council (IGBC), a part of CII,
  and Gujarat International Finance Tec-City Company Ltd (GIFTCL), have inked a
  memorandum of co-operation (MoC) at Vibrant Gujarat Summit 2015.
• The MoC was inked in the presence of Anandiben Patel,
  Chief Minister of Gujarat, Prakash Gaur, Vice-President, GIFTCL, and Sameer
  Sinha, Chairman, IGBC Ahmedabad Chapter.
• The MoC aims to showcase GIFT City as a Model Green City
  for the upcoming Smart Cities in India, CII said in a press release.
• GIFT City is conceived to have a perfect blend of modern
  technological innovations, and sustainable infrastructure and facilities, for
  enhanced quality of life.
• As part of the MoC, IGBC and GIFTCL will also handhold
  all the developers and promoters of GIFT City by conducting joint feasibility
  studies, capacity building workshops, and training programmes which would
  facilitate in design & construction of all buildings coming up in GIFT City
  as Green Buildings.

• Azure Power on Monday announced signing of a memorandum
  of understanding (MoU) with Gujarat Energy Research and Management Institute
  (GERMI), a Gujarat Government enterprise, to launch the ‘National Certification
  Programme for Rooftop Solar Photovoltaic Installer’.
• Under this MoU, Azure Power and GERMI will work towards
  establishing a cooperative and supportive team with adequate resources,
  including skilled manpower, capital equipment, and facilities, for effective
  implementation of the new certification.
• The national certification will help develop a skilled
  workforce and transfer the knowledge and training techniques that Azure Power
  has gained, to empower the technical trainers from Gujarat for undertaking such
  skill building initiatives locally, Inderpreet Wadhwa, CEO and Founder, Azure
  Power, said.

• Kotak Mahindra Bank secured its shareholders approval for
  amalgamation with ING Vysya Bank. It was announced by the Kotak Mahindra Bank
  on 8 January 2015.
• The extraordinary General Meeting of Kotak Mahindra Bank
  approved a share exchange ratio of 725 equity shares of the bank for every 1000
  equity shares of ING Vysya Bank.
• The amalgamation was approved by 99.30 percent in number
  representing 99.93 percent in value of the shareholders present of Kotak
  Mahindra Bank. With this amalgamation, Kotak Mahindra Bank will become the
  fourth largest private sector bank.
• In November 2014, Kotak Mahindra Bank had announced the
  takeover of ING Vysya Bank in an all-stock deal valued at 15000 crore rupees.

• Vistara airline, a joint venture of Tata-SIA, started its
  flight operation in India on 9 January 2015. Vistara flight took off with its
  first flight from Delhi to Mumbai.
• Vistara will be the third full-service carrier in India,
  after state-run Air India and private carrier Jet Airways.
• In December 2014, Vistara announced the launch of its
  operation from 9 January 2015 with flight from Delhi to Mumbai and Ahmedabad.
• At present, Vistara has two leased A320s and will operate
  148-seater Airbus A320-200 with 16 seats in business class, 36 in premium
  economy and 96 in economy on Delhi to Mumbai and Ahmedabad routes.
• Further, Vistara airline will operate flights from Delhi
  to Goa, Mumbai, Bangalore, Ahmedabad, Hyderabad, Chandigarh, Srinagar, Jammu
  and Patna in the first year.

• Tech Mahindra on 10 January 2015 signed definitive
  agreement to acquire the Swiss firm SOFGEN Holdings Limited. Company did not
  disclose the details of the deal.
• The deal is aimed at boosting the financial services
  offering by Tech Mahindra so as reach the top line target of 5 billion US
  dollar by 2015.
• With this acquisition, Tech Mahindra will have the
  capability to offer a unique combination of change the bank and run the bank
  services to retail banking, private banking and wealth management customers globally.
• This is the third deal Tech Mahindra has struck since
  November 2014. In November 2014, it had announced the acquisition of
  Lightbridge Communications for 240 million US dollar. In first week of January
  2015, it formed a joint venture with Avion Systems, in which it will hold a
  minority stake.
• SOFGEN offers solutions related to core banking. It has
  the second largest pool of Avaloq consultants globally and is Temenos’ most
  prolific partner. It has offices in Geneva, Chennai, Singapore, London and New York
  and it employs 450 people.

• Adani Enterprises and US-based SunEdison on 11 January
  2015 signed an agreement to form joint venture (JV) to build the solar park at
  Mundra, Gujarat in India. The agreement was signed by the both companies during
  the Vibrant Gujarat Summit in Gandhinagar.
• The JV will build the largest vertically integrated solar
  photovoltaic manufacturing facility with an investment of around 4 billion US
  dollars (around 25000 crore rupees).
• The facility will be set up in three years time to create
  ultra-low cost solar panels. It will create 20000 new jobs and make India into
  a solar production powerhouse.
• This facility will vertically integrate all aspects of
  solar panel production in Mundra, including Polysilicon refining, ingots,
  wafers, cells and panels production with a broader ecosystem involving extended
  supply chain for raw materials and consumables.
• SunEdison and Adani will complete a comprehensive
  analysis of the joint venture opportunity and business plan by mid-2015.

• 13th Pravasi Bharatiya Diwas (PBD) 2015 concluded on 9
  January 2015 in Gujarat. PBD is the flagship event of Ministry of Overseas
  Indian Affairs (MOIA).
• The event concluded with giving away Pravasi Bharatiya
  Samman awards to 15 members of the Indian Diaspora by the Vice-President Hamid
  Ansari.
• The chief guest of the 13th PBD was Guyana President
  Donald Ramotar.  The theme of 2015 PBD
  was Bharat ko jano and Bharat ko mano.
• PBD conventions are being held every year since 2003 and
  are celebrated on 9th January every year to mark the contribution of Overseas
  Indian community in the development of India.
• The 13th edition of PBD marked the 100th year of Mahatma
  Gandhi’s return to India from South Africa.

• Vice President of India Mohammad Hamid Ansari on 9
  January 2015 presented the Pravasi Bharatiya Samman Awards 2015 to sixteen
  personalities. The awards were presented during the occasion of Pravasi
  Bhartiya Divas at Gandhinagar, Gujarat.

1. Mala Mehta from Australia
2. President Donald Rabindernauth Ramaotar from Guyana
3. Dr Rajaram Sanjaya from Mexico
4. Kanwaljit Singh Bakshi from New Zealand
5. Rajamal Parakh from Oman
6. Duraikannu Karunakaran from Seychelles
7. Essop Goolam Pahad from South Africa
8. Bharat Kumar Jayantilal Shah from UAE
9. Ashraf Pellarkunnmal from UAE
10. Mahendra Nanji Mehta from Uganda
11. Nathuram Puri from the United Kingdom
12. Satyanarayan Nadela from USA
13. Kamlesh Lulla from the US
14. Nandani Tandon from US
15. Lord Raj Lumba from the United Kingdom

• Apart from these fifteen awardees, Senator Liza Singh
  from Australia also received the award as he could not accept the award in 2014
• The Pravasi Bharatiya Samman Award was constituted by the
  Union Ministry of Overseas Indian Affairs to honour the contributions of
  Non-Resident Indians in their respective profession. The award is given by the
  President of India.

• The Centre today told the Supreme Court that the EC’s
  recommendation to extend voting rights to NRIs through postal ballots have been
  accepted in letter and spirit.
• Taking note of the submissions, a bench comprising Chief
  Justice H.L Dattu and A.K Sikri asked the Centre to inform it about “further
  steps taken to implement the suggestions.”
• The bench posted the matter after eight weeks, asking the
  Centre to do the needful at the earliest.
• The Centre’s stand was clarified by Additional Solicitor
  General P.L Narasimha, who said certain amendments are required to be carried
  out and the Ministry of Law is working on them, taking into consideration the
  EC recommendations.
• On November 14 last year, the Supreme Court had asked the
  Centre to make its stand clear on the EC’s proposal for allowing NRIs to cast
  their votes through proxy voting and e-ballots in polls in India.

• The Mizoram Excise and Narcotics Minister R Lalzirliana
  today said the newly legislated Mizoram Liquor Prohibition and Control (MLPC)
  Act, 2014 will be in force from Thursday next.
• The MLPC Act would replace the Mizoram Liquor Total
  Prohibition Act, 1995 imposed in the state for the last 17 years.
• Lalzirliana said though the MLPC Act was already notified
  in the official gazette on January 7 and would be in force from January 15,
  opening of retail wine shops in the state would be only from March next.
• He said preparations were in full swing to begin selling
  of India Made Foreign Liquor (IMFL) in the state and hinted that PSUs like the
  Mizoram Food and Allied Industries Limited (MIFCO) would look after the retail
  wine shops in Aizawl and other seven district headquarters.

• National Youth Day was observed across India on 12
  January 2015. The day is observed annually to mark the birth anniversary of
  social reformer, philosopher and thinker Swami Vivekananda.
• This is the 152nd birth anniversary of Swami Vivekananda
  and his birth anniversary is being celebrated as National Youth Day in India
  since 1985.
• The Union Government in 1984 had declared that 12
  January, the birthday of Swami Vivekananda will be observed as the National
  Youth Day.
• Swami Vivekananda’s lectures and writings are a source of
  inspiration for youth and have motivated numerous youth organisation.
• His writings derive their inspiration from Indian
  spiritual tradition and the broad outlook of his Master Sri Ramakrishna.
• All his teachings can be found in The Complete Works of
  Swami Vivekananda, in nine volumes, published by Advaita Ashrama, Kolkata.

• The director of Satish Dhawan Space Centre (SDSC),
  Sriharikota Range (SHAR) MYS Prasad was on 10 January 2015 selected for the
  Vikram Sarabhai memorial award 2015. The award will be presented to MYS Prasad
  by the Indian Science Congress Association (ISCA).
• Prasad was selected for his outstanding contribution to
  Research and Development in the field of space science in his long career at
  the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO).
• Generally, the ISCA awards are presented at the inaugural
  function of the Indian Science Congress but this award will be presented in a
  separate function that will be organised by ISCA.
• The Vikram Sarabhai memorial award was instituted by the
  Indian Science Congress Association in 1997-98. The award carries a Gold Medal
  and is given in every alternate years.
• The award is given to distinguished Scientist of the
  Country in recognition of their outstanding contributions.

• President rule was imposed in Jammu and Kashmir (J
  &K) on 9 January 2015. President Pranab Mukherjee approved the
  recommendation of the Governor of Jammu and Kashmir N N Vohra.
• Governor N N Vohra had recommended for President Rule in
  light of deadlock over the formation of the new government continued in J &
  K.
• The Jammu and Kashmir Legislative Assembly election were
  held in five phases in December 2014.  In
  the Assembly election, People’s Democratic Party (PDP) won 28 seats, Bharatiya
  Janata Party (BJP) won 25 and National Congress (NC) won 15 seats.
• The political parties failed to form government after no
  party was able to muster the majority of 87 seats required to form the government.
  Even the attempts of PDP and BJP to cobble up a coalition did not fructify.
• Hence Presidential Rule was recommended by the Governor
  after Caretaker Chief Minister Omar Abdullah requested Governor Vohra to relive
  from his duties.

• Senior bureaucrat Sindhushree Khullar was on 10 January
  2015 appointed as the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of National Institution for
  Transforming India (NITI) Aayog with effect from 1 January 2015. She will serve
  the position for one year.
• Her appointment was approved by the Appointment Committee
  of the Cabinet.

• PM Narendra Modi on 8 January 2015 inaugurated a
  state-of-the-art museum Dandi Kutir opposite Mahatma Mandir in Gandhinagar,
  Gujarat on the occasion of the 13th Pravasi Bhartiya Divas (PBD).
• The 13th edition of Pravasi Bhartiya Divas (PBD) is
  marking the 100th anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi’s return to India from South
  Africa.
• Dandi Kutir is located inside a 41-metre high salt-mound
  as a symbol of Gandhi’s famous Dandi march against the salt tax provisions
  imposed by the British regime in March 1930.
• The museum displays each and every aspect of Mahatma
  Gandhi’s life in the form of sculptures that depict his childhood, early life,
  his return to India and his role in the country’s freedom struggle.

• Retired Gauhati High Court Chief justice Rajkumar
  Manisana passed away on 8 January 2015 following a brief illness. He was 82.
• In November 1979, he was appointed as the Advocate
  General of Manipur and became a justice of the Gauhati High Court in November
  1984.
• Manisana became the Chief Justice of the Gauhati High
  Court on 24 January 1994.
• He was also appointed as the Chairman of the Assam Human
  Rights Commission in January 2002.

• Book titled The Indian Parliament – A Critical Appraisal
  was released by Vice President Hamid Ansari on 8 January 2015. The book is
  authored by Prof. Sudha Pai and Avinash Kumar of Jawaharlal Nehru University,
  New Delhi.
• The book examines the credibility and legitimacy of the
  Indian Parliament and has scrutinised various aspects of its functioning. It
  also provides a broad-ranging analysis of the relationship between the
  functioning of Parliamentary institutions and the rapid changes that has been
  witnessed by the Indian society, particularly the onset of coalition politics
  and the initiation of economic reforms.

• All-women contingent of Indian army will march for the
  first time on 2015 Republic Day (RD) parade. The chief guest of 2015 Republic
  Day will be the US President Barack Obama.
• The decision to have all-women contingent was taken by
  the Indian armed forces in the first week of January 2015 following an order
  from Prime Minister Narendra Modi to display Nari Shakti as a theme for the
  2015 RD Parade.
• The all-women contingent would comprise of 150-odd women
  army officers who will give a salute to the President of India.
• In 1992 for the first time, Indian Army allowed women as
  officers. They were introduced as Special Entry Group for four years, which
  extended up to 14 years in 2004.
• However, the extended service cannot promote a woman
  officer up to the rank of a Colonel, which is mandatory to be the commanding
  officer of the unit.

• To counter the deadly bluetongue disease, Raksha Blu
  vaccine was launched on 8 January 2015 by Gachibowli facility of Indian
  Immunologicals Limited (IIL) in Hyderabad, Telangana.
• The vaccine was launched with an aim to minimise the
  economic loss of the animal farming community that occurs due to bluetongue
  disease.
• This is India’s first vaccine for bluetongue disease.
  This viral disease has about 24 strains prevalent across the world of which
  five are mostly prevalent in India.
• The vaccine has been developed to protect the animals
  against five strains of the ‘bluetongue’ virus prevalent in the country. Per
  dose of the vaccine will be available for farmers at an expense of 5 rupees.
• The vaccine is the result of collaborative efforts of
  IIL, TANUVAS (Tamil Nadu University of Veterinary and Animal Sciences) and ICAR
  (Indian Council of Agricultural Research). The vaccine was developed in three
  years. 

• Prime Minister Narendra Modi on 8 January 2014 released
  Commemorative Postage Stamps to mark 100 Years of Mahatma Gandhi’s Return from
  South Africa to India. A set of two Commemorative Postage Stamps were released
  during the 13th Pravasi Bharatiya Divas in Gandhinagar, Gujarat.
• The coins are of denomination of 100 rupees and 10
  rupees, while the stamps are of value of 25 rupees and 5 rupees.
• The coins and stamps show two pictures of Gandhi, one
  when he was a young barrister and another one when he came to be known as
  Mahatma by people across the globe.
• Mahatma Gandhi arrived in South Africa at a young age of
  24 years as the legal counsel of Indian traders based in the city of Pretoria.
  He spent more than two decades in South Africa, where he developed the concept
  of Satyagraha while fighting against the gross injustice, discrimination and
  racism prevailing in South Africa.

• Freedom fighter Perin Romesh Chandra died on 8 January
  2015 following a prolonged illness. She was 96.
• Perin was a leader and stalwart of the All India Peace
  & Solidarity Organisation (AIPSO).
• The greater part of her life was spent in the peace and
  solidarity movements including the movement against the US occupation of
  Vietnam, the struggle to free South Africa from apartheid, caste discrimination
  and for people-to-people contacts between Indians and Pakistanis.

• Kolinda Grabar-Kitarovic on 11 January 2015 won the 2015
  Presidential elections of Croatia.
• Kolinda belongs to the conservative Croatian Democratic
  Union (HDZ) party and is a former Assistant Secretary General at NATO and
  former Croatian ambassador to the United States.
• She will take charge of the President office on 19
  February 2015 thus becoming the first female President of Croatia.
• In the presidential elections held on 28 December 2014,
  she bagged 50.4 percent of votes in the second round of voting. She defeated
  the incumbent President Ivo Josipovic of Social Democrat Party who got 49.6
  percent votes.
• Second round of voting was held after no candidate
  received 50 percent of the vote in the first round.

• Pallewatte Gamaralalage Maithripala Yapa Sirisena
  (Maithiripala Sirisena) was on 9 January 2015 sworn-in as the 7th President of
  Sri Lanka.
• Sri Lanka’s Supreme Court Judge K Sri Pawan administered
  the oath of office to Maithiripala Sirisena at a oath taking ceremony held at
  the Independence Square in Colombo.
• Before the swearing-in ceremony of President Maithripala
  Sirisena, the leader of the United National Party (UNP) Ranil Wickramasinghe
  took the oath as Prime Minister of Sri Lanka.
• Maithripala heads a rainbow coalition of several parties
  including United National Party and the Buddhist Monk party.

• Justice Surendra Kumar Sinha was on 12 January 2015 appointed
  as the 21st chief justice of Bangladesh. His appointment was confirmed by the
  Bangladesh President Abdul Hamid as per Article 95(1) of the Bangladesh
  Constitution.
• Surendra Kumar Sinha will succeed incumbent Chief Justice
  Md Muzammel Hossain who will retire on 16 January 2015.
• The swearing-in ceremony of Justice Sinha will take place
  on 17 January 2015 at the Bangabhaban presidential palace, Bangladesh. Justice
  Sinha will be the first non-Muslim to take charge of the office of Chief
  Justice of Bangladesh.

• Indian visitors to Australia can now apply for visas
  online with the Australian government beginning a new online visa trial programme.
• Under the programme, the subclass 600 visa, which covers
  tourists and business visitors, can be applied online. “Indian visitors to
  Australia reached 189,866 for the year ended September 2014 which is a 14.5 per
  cent increase over last year. This is the fastest growing market for us,” said
  Andre Robb, Minister for Trade and Investment, Australia.
• “Under the Australian Government’s national tourism
  strategy Tourism 2020, India has the potential to contribute between $1.9 and
  $2.3 billion annually to our tourism industry by 2020,” Robb added. The trial
  for online visa applications is being launched in the first half of 2015 with
  the aim of capitalising on the visitor market and creating jobs.
• The online visa applications will initially be rolled out
  through selected travel agents in India.

• The United States on 11 January 2015 announced that it
  will host an international Anti-terror Summit in Washington. The summit will be
  held on 18 February 2015 and will aim on preventing violent extremism that was
  seen in attack on Charlie Hebdo’s Paris office.
• The meeting will highlight best practices (domestic and
  international) and emerging efforts from several US communities carrying out
  pilot programs to address extremism.
• The US Attorney General Eric Holder announced about the
  summit from Paris where he had joined an emergency conference on terrorism. The
  conference was held in the wake of a terror spree in France in first week of
  January 2014 in which 17 people (in attack and manhunt) were killed.
• The conference was attended by Interior and Justice
  Ministers from Europe and the US, where they called for increased Internet
  surveillance and stricter border security to counter attacks like the massacre
  at the Charlie Hebdo weekly newspaper.

• Indian Government on 8 January 2015 decided to provide 69
  million rupees to Nepal as assistance to launch the Iodine Deficiency Disorder
  Control Programme (IDDCP) for goitre control across the country.
• Indian Ambassador to Nepal Ranjit Rae handed over a
  cheque of 17.25 million rupees as an advance payment to the secretary, Ministry
  of Commerce and Supplies, Nepal for launching the programme.
• The IDDCP, earlier known as Goitre Control Programme, was
  signed under the financial assistance of Government of India on 3 August 2014
  during the visit of Prime Minister Narendra Modi to Nepal.

• Modibo Keita was on 8 January 2015 appointed as the Prime
  Minister of West African nation Mali. His appointment was confirmed by Mali’s
  President Ibrahim Boubacar Keita.
• Modibo Keita succeeded Moussa Mara who resigned on 8
  January 2015 under pressure from the President due to the strife-torn condition
  of the nation.

• The Lunchbox on 8 January 2015 was nominated for British
  Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA) Awards 2015 under non-English best
  film category.  The film is the only
  Indian film to be nominated for 2015 BAFTA Awards.
• The Lunchbox, starring Nimrat Kaur and Irrfan Khan is
  directed by Ritesh Batra.
• The film is competing with Polish-Danish drama film Ida,
  Russian drama Leviathan, Brazilian-British adventure drama thriller film Trash,
  and Belgian drama Two Days, One Night.
• BAFTA awards will be hosted by Stephen Fry. The award
  ceremony will be held on 8 February 2015.
• The Lunchbox revolves around a misplacement of a Tiffin
  in Mumbai’s efficient lunchbox delivery system. This wrong delivery of a
  lunchbox connects a neglected housewife to an about to retire government
  servant.

• Chinese nuclear physicist Yu Min was on 9 January 2015
  presented with the State Preeminent Science and Technology Award 2014 by
  Chinese President Xi Jinping. He was awarded for his involvement in research
  into nuclear weapons since the 1960s.
• Yu Min is presently an academician at the Chinese Academy
  of Sciences.
• The State Preeminent Science and Technology Award was set
  up in 1999. It is awarded to the top two scientists of China every year.
• The award includes a cash prize worth 5 million-yuan
  (805200 US dollars), 10 percent of which is given to the awarded scientist.

• Stanislas Wawrinka on 11 January 2015 won the Chennai
  Open title of tennis.In the summit clash at Nungambakkam tennis stadium in
  Chennai, the Swiss world number four defeated the Slovenian qualifier Aljaz Bedene
  6-3, 6-4.
• This was second consecutive ATP Chennai Open title for
  Wawrinka and third time since 2011. With this win, Wawrinka pocketed 73400 US
  dollar and 250 ranking points.
• In the 20-year history of the tournament, Bedene was the
  first qualifier to reach the final, winning seven matches en route to his
  maiden ATP Tour final. He pocketed 38650 US dollars and 150 points for winning three
  qualifying matches and four more in the main draw.

• Captain of Pakistan’s cricket team Misbah-ul-Haq
  announced to retire from One Day International (ODI) and T20 after the Cricket
  World Cup 2015.  The decision was
  announced on 11 January 2015 so as to focus on Test Cricket only.
• Misbah started his ODI career in 2002. He has played 153
  ODIs and scored 4669 runs at an average of 42.83. He has played 29 Twenty20
  internationals. He has been the captain of Pakistan in 78 games, out of which
  Pakistan won 41 games.
• He has played 39 T20s for Pakistan and his last T20 for
  Pakistan was in 2012. Later he continued to play domestic T20 cricket and also
  had stints in the Indian Premier League, and the Caribbean Premier League.
• At present, he holds the record for most ODI runs without
  a century.
• Apart from him, Pakistan all-rounder Shahid Afridi also
  announced to retire from ODIs after the World Cup to concentrate on T20
  cricket.

• 17-time Grand Slam champion Roger Federer of Switzerland
  on 11 January 2015 won the Brisbane International Tennis title. He won the
  Brisbane title for the first time.
• In the finals played at Brisbane in Australia, he
  defeated third seeded Milos Raonic of Canada 6-4, 6-7 (2), 6-4.
• With this he became the third tennis player in open era
  to win 1000 ATP titles. The other two players are Jimmy Connors of the US
  (1253) and Ivan Lendl of the US (1071).
• At the presentation, he was awarded the trophy by Roy
  Emerson of Australia and a special award for 1000 wins by Australian legend Rod
  Laver.
• Roger Federer is a Swiss professional tennis player and
  he is currently ranked world No. 2 by the Association of Tennis Professionals
  (ATP).