Today's GK

Gujarat chief minister Narendra Modi seems out to prove he is more popular than US President Barack Obama — at least on social networking sites. Having faced a defeat at the hand of the US president in November 2011 when Modi lost following a last-minute spurt in negative votes in the fifth annual Mashable awards in the category of 'Must-Follow Politician On Social Media', the Gujarat CM now wants to get back.

The tension surrounding N Srinivasan's return as the president of Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) increased on Wednesday with conflicting reports indicating that Srinivasan might already be back in the seat.

Earlier in June, Srinivasan had said that he would step aside as BCCI president till the probe panel gave its findings into match-fixing and betting allegations against his son-in-law Gurunath Meiyappan and India Cements-owned franchise Chennai Super Kings. Now that the panel has submitted its report, and given them a clean chit, it is being suggested that he can return to the chair.

India has assured Thimphu that the subsidy on LPG and kerosene it supplies to Bhutan will be restored by the first week of August. New Delhi had earlier this month decided to put an end to the subsidy causing much heartburn in the strategically important country at a time when it was in the middle of its parliamentary polls.

Many said India was trying to influence the outcome of the polls — ruffled as it was with then PM Jigme Thinley's policies — but South Block steadfastly maintained its decision was apolitical. Government sources here said all "administrative, technical and financial arrangements" are in place for resumption of subsidy on cooking gas and kerosene.

Gold futures prices on Wednesday rose by 0.86% to Rs 28,590 per 10 grams as speculators enlarged positions, largely in tune with a firming overseas trend. Covering-up of short positions by speculators at prevailing levels also influenced Gold futures prices, traders said.

Addressing his 20th monetary policy review which marked the end of his five-year term, Reserve Bank of India governor D Subbarao left foreign exchange markets in a tizzy by stating that he did not favour a sovereign bond issue and that RBI will not stand in the way of a falling rupee except to curb volatility. The absence of the any further measures to protect the domestic currency and lower growth forecasts also increased pressure on the local currency which fell by more than a rupee on Monday. In what is probably his last monetary policy, Subbarao provided his take on economic issues facing the country...

The Supreme Court on Tuesday asked market regulator Sebi whether other Sahara companies should face contempt of court proceedings and made liable for violating the court order directing Sahara India Real Estate Corporation (SIRECL) and Sahara Housing Investment Corporation (SHICL) to refund Rs 24,000 crore.

The bench of Justices K S Radhakrishnan and J S Khehar asked, "What is the connection of SIRECL and SHICL with other group companies? Can we, while pursuing these two companies, order attachment of the assets of other group companies? Before us, only these two companies had given an undertaking that they had invested the monies in other group companies. But the other companies had not stood surety for these two companies."

Sebi counsel Arvind Datar termed the Sahara group as a "single economic entity" and said for the default of one of the companies within the single entity, the court could proceed against the group and its companies.

President of Ireland, Michael D Higgins on 31 July 2013 signed the bill (Government’s Protection of Life during Pregnancy Bill) into law. The bill, overwhelmingly passed by both houses of the Irish parliament in July 2013, permits abortions only in cases where doctors deem the woman's life at risk from continued pregnancy. The law comes in the wake of the tragic death of Savita Halappanavar, 31, on 28 October 2012 of blood poisoning as a result of a miscarriage. Savita was reportedly denied a potentially life-saving abortion. The new legislation, which replaces 146 years old British era law, also permits abortions to alleviate life-threatening conditions, including a woman's own threat to commit suicide if refused a termination.

Till recently, Ireland's only legislation on abortion was a handed-down British law from 1867, outlawing the practice with a maximum penalty of life imprisonment. The new maximum sentence is 14 years.

Higgins convened a meeting of the Council of State on 29 July 2013 to seek its advice on the bill, which he could have opted to send to the Supreme Court to test its constitutionality. The meeting, chaired by the President, was attended by 21 members of the 24-strong council. The 21 persons who attended, including seven members of the judiciary, still made it the biggest council since the Constitution came into effect in 1937.

The Forbes, which released its list on 30 July 2013, declared that Angelina Jolie was the Hollywood’s highest paid actress. She had the estimated earnings of 33 million US dollar. She defeated Jennifer Lawrence, the 2013 Best Actress Oscar winner, who had the estimated earnings of 26 million US dollar. Angelina Jolie also defeated Kristen Stewart in the list. Kristen Stewart had the earnings of 22 million US dollar.

Yes Bank became the first lender to hike lending and deposit rates. Others may follow as the RBI move has tightened liquidity in the markets. Yes Bank said it would hike its deposit rates by 0.25 percent to 0.5 percent in select tenors effective from 1August 2013. Yes Bank took this step following the RBI’s decision to keep key policy rates unchanged and cut growth forecast.

This provides an opportunity for retail depositors to lock in higher rates on term deposits. The bank has also decided to hike its base rate by a quarter percent to 10.75 percent effective from Thursday. This will make lending by the bank costlier.
In the first quarter review of the monetary policy, the RBI had left all key policy rates unchanged to support the Rupee to stay stable. The repurchase, or the repo rate, the interest that commercial banks pay to the RBI on short-term borrowings, has been left unchanged at 7.25 percent, and so has the reverse repo rate at 6.25 percent.

The cash reserve ratio (CRR), or the share of deposits banks must keep with the central bank, is also maintained at 4 percent. Earlier this month, the central bank had taken a number of measures to squeeze liquidity out of the banking system, in order to ensure stability in the currency markets.

Yes bank is India’s fourth largest private sector lender.

Prasar Bharati and the Australian Network on 30 July 2013 signed an agreement to strengthen the partnership between the two public broadcasters. The accord was signed by Prasar Bharti CEO Jawahar Sircar and ABC International CEO Lynley Marshall in New Delhi. With the agreement, ABC International will be available on DD Direct plus from 1 November 2013.  It will allow the channel to be shown along with 59 other channels on Doordarshan's DTH platform.

The partnership between the two public broadcasters will help build better understanding between people of both the countries. The partnership between Prasar Bharati and the Australian broadcaster will cover other areas like co-production activities, exchange of TV programmes, exchange of radio programmes and aspects.