1. Supreme Court (SC) of India on 20
January 2014 directed the National Commission for Scheduled Tribes
(NCST) to verify the authenticity of ST status of Mukul Sangma, the
Chief Minister of Meghalaya. The direction of the Apex Court came
following a challenge by political rivals.
The bench of the Court headed by Chief Justice of India, P Sathasivam while hearing a PIL filed by the All North East Indigenous Garo Law Promoter Association that has challenged the ST status of Sangma refused to go into and said that the matter. He said that it should be decided by the Commission and asked the commission to look into the complaint and take a decision within eight weeks.
The association has demanded the cancellation of the ST certificate of Sangma that has been issued to him. Sangma had won the 2013 Assembly election from the Ampati Constituency in South Garo Hills
2. Ban Ki-moon, the Secretary-General of United Nations on 20 January 2014 withdrew the invitation for Iran to join the peace conference on Syrian crisis. This action was taken following the Tehran’s step to back the plan to form a Syrian transitional government, which is the basis of the conference.
3. Anand Sinha, the Deputy Governor of the Reserve Bank of India retired on 20 January 2014. His retirement came following his superannuation and his portfolio has been allocated to other three Deputy Governors.
Official Directors
i. Full-time: Governor and not more than four Deputy Governors
Non-Official Directors
i. Nominated by Government: ten Directors from various fields and two government Officials
ii. Others: four Directors - one each from four local boards
4. Reserve Bank of India on 20 January 2014
constituted an Expert Committee to Review Governance of Boards in
India. The expert committee will be chaired by PJ Nayak, the former
Chairman and CEO of Axis Bank and includes other eight members namely S.
Raman, Shubhalakshmi Panse, Pratip Kar, Joydeep Sengupta, Harsh
Vardhan, Somasekhar Sundaresan, J. Sagar and Krishnamurthy Subramanian.
The terms of reference of the Committee would be
• To review the regulatory compliance requirements of banks’ boards in India
• To judge what can be rationalized and where requirements need to be enhanced
• To examine the working of banks’ boards including whether adequate time is devoted to issues of strategy, growth, governance and risk management and will also review central bank regulatory guidelines on bank ownership, ownership concentration and representation in the board
• To analyse the representation on banks’ boards to see whether the boards have the appropriate mix of capabilities and the necessary independence to govern the institution, and to investigate possible conflicts of interest in board representation, including among owner representatives and regulators. In this regard to also assess and review the ‘fit and proper’ criteria for all categories of directors of banks, including tenor of directorship
• To examine board compensation guidelines, and any other issue relevant to the functioning of banks’ boards and the governance they exercise
The Committee is expected to submit its report within three months from the date of its first meeting.
• To review the regulatory compliance requirements of banks’ boards in India
• To judge what can be rationalized and where requirements need to be enhanced
• To examine the working of banks’ boards including whether adequate time is devoted to issues of strategy, growth, governance and risk management and will also review central bank regulatory guidelines on bank ownership, ownership concentration and representation in the board
• To analyse the representation on banks’ boards to see whether the boards have the appropriate mix of capabilities and the necessary independence to govern the institution, and to investigate possible conflicts of interest in board representation, including among owner representatives and regulators. In this regard to also assess and review the ‘fit and proper’ criteria for all categories of directors of banks, including tenor of directorship
• To examine board compensation guidelines, and any other issue relevant to the functioning of banks’ boards and the governance they exercise
The Committee is expected to submit its report within three months from the date of its first meeting.
When the credit card is swiped at the point of sale (POS), the virus Dexter steals the confidential data like card holder’s name, account number, expiration date, CVV code and other discretionary information. This leak of the information could lead to financial loss and phishing attacks on the card.
6. Catherline Samba-Panza, the mayor of Bangui on 20 January 2014 was elected as the interim president of the Central African Republic (CAR). With this she became the first woman to hold the post after defeating her rival Desire Kolinba, in the second round of voting by the interim Parliament. She secured 75 votes against 53 of the rival.
7. The Union Government appointed IPS Aruna Bahuguna as chief of Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel National Police Academy, Hyderbad. The Appointments Committee of Cabinet (ACC) issued the orders for the appointment on 20 January 2014.
Aruna Bahuguna is the first woman to be appointed as the chief of the National Police Academy. She is the 28th chief of the academy and will be at its helm till February 2017.
8. Veerappa Moily, the Petroleum and Natural Gas Minister on 20 January 2014 announced to set-up a Multi Organization Team (MOT) to carry out re-assessment work of hydrocarbon resources in 26 sedimentary basins. The re-assessment will be done to highlight the oil and gas potential of India and has been given a time limit of 30 months to prepare basin wise portfolio in light of the oil and gas discoveries since 2001. It has been asked to estimate the resource of all 3.14 million square kilometers of India. Resource assessment will be carried out at Keshav Dev Malviya Institute of Petroleum Engineering (KDMIPE) of ONGC in Dehradun.
9. The Union Cabinet approved to set up Rail Tariff Authority on 20 January 2014. Rail Tariff Authority will be an advisory body which will advise the Railway Ministry on fares. RTA will comprise of a chairperson and four members at the apex level.
At present railway fare and freight rates are set by the Railway Board in accordance with the Railway Act, 1989.
10. Google acquired Bengaluru based Impermium for 9 million dollar on 20 January 2014. The acquisition will help Google improve its abuse monitoring efforts and make internet a safer place.
Bengaluru based Impermium is a three year old startup. The startup focused on building security products for websites.
Impermium was founded by two Indians, Vish Ramarao and Naveen Jamal and American Mark Risher. Mark Risher is the CEO of the company.
11. First Climate Change theatre was opened at Pushpa Gujral Science City in Kapurthala, Punjab on 16 January 2014. The theatre will educate people on climate change. This is the second theatre in the world to be opened after Canada.
12. The Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of China decelerated to 7.7 percent in 2013-14. It is the slowest GDP growth rate clocked by China in last 14 years. This was revealed by the data released by the National Bureau of Statistics of China on 20 January 2014.
No comments:
Post a Comment