current affairs(27-31 oct)

Rajendra Yadav, the Noted Hindi Writer Passed Away at 84

Rajendra Yadav, the noted Hindi writer passed away on 28 October 2013 at Mayur Vihar, Delhi because of prolonged illness. He was 84 years old.

Life History of Rajendra Yadav

• Rajendra Yadav was born on 28 August 1929 in Agra.
• He was a pioneer of Hindi literary movement known as Nayi Kahani in the 60s.
• He re-launched Munshi Premchand's magazine HANS, which he himself had been editing since 1986.
• Pret Bolte Hain was his first novel and it was published in the year 1951. This was the first Hindi novel to try to shock orthodox Indian cultural traditions.
• Pret Bolte Hain written by Rajendra Yadav was adapted into the movie of the same title, Sara Akash, by Basu Chatterjee in 1969.
• His other novels included Ukhre Huey Log and Shaah aur Maat.
• He wrote various stories during his career.
• He was also nominated as a member of the Board of Prasar Bharati, from 1999 to 2001.
• Rajendra Yadav’s wife Mannu Bhandari is also a renowned Hindi writer.
• He authored two other novels entitled Kulta (The Wayward Wife), and Shaah aur Maat (Check and Mate).
• Apart from these novels, his other works included Ek Inch Muskaan (A Little Smile), which was co-authored by his wife Mannu Bhandari. It was the love tragedy of schizophrenic individuals.

Turkey opened world’s first Underwater Rail Link between two Continents

Turkey on 29 October 2013 opened world’s first underwater rail link that connects Asia and Europe. The length of the rail link is 13 kilometers and is about 60 meters below the Bosphorus Strait. Named Marmaray tunnel is the first world’s subway to connect two continents. The Tunnel is engineered to withstand the earthquakes.

The railway tunnel beneath the Bosporus Strait has been opened in Turkey and has created the link between the Asian with European shores of Istanbul.

The rail link was inaugurated on the 90th anniversary of the Republic of Turkey. This project of development of the undersea rail link was visualized in 1860 by an Ottoman Sultan. The work on the tunnel started in the year 2004 but the construction was delayed because of archeological excavation. Marmaray will carry the subway commuters in the biggest city of Europe and eventually serve high-speed and freight trains.

The tunnel project of 2.8 billion dollar was financed by the Japan Bank for International Co-operation.

Hamid Ansari launched the Indian Chambers of Commerce in Lima, Peru

Hamid Ansari, the Vice President of India on 28 October 2013 launched the Indian Chambers of Commerce (INCHAM) in Lima, Peru. The launch was done during a function organized by the Embassy of India, Peru and INCHAM. The official website of INCHAM was also launched during the occasion. This launch was done during the visit of Hamid Ansari at Peru. At the time of launch, Manpreet Vohra, the Ambassador of India to Peru and Ravi Krishna, the President of INCHAM and senior officials and business leaders from India and Peru were present on the occasion.

IOC (Indian Oil Corporation) won the 48th Bombay Gold Cup

Indian Oil Corporation on 27 October 2013 defeated Air India 5-3 to win the 48th Bombay Gold Cup hockey tournament at the MHA stadium, Mumbai. Indian Oil Corporation and Air India the teams were level at 2-all till the end of first half. Arman Qureshi scored the first goal for Air India to put AI 1-0 up in the 23rd minute which was neutralised V Raghunath of IOC, scored a goal in the 26th through a penalty corner. Prabodh Tirkey scored the second goal for Air India and put it 2-1 ahead in the 33rd minute. IOC bounced back and equalised when Deepak Thakur scored for the team in the last minute of the first half.

Sunil was given the man of the tournament award and received a cheque for 5000 rupees from newly appointed chief national coach Terry Walsh at the end of the tournament.

Serena Williams defeated Li Na to win the WTA Championships

Serena Williams, the world number one tennis player on 27 October 2013 won the TEB BNP Paribas WTA Championships at Istanbul after defeating Li Na 2-6, 6-3, 6-0. With this win, she managed to retain the WTA Championships title with her. This was her overall seventy eighth title and eleventh title of this year.

Serena Williams with 78 wins out of 82 matches in 2013 will finish as the top ranked player after 2002 and 2009 for the third time. This is the fourth success of Serena Williams in the WTA Championships. With this win, she became the first player to retain the title after Justice Henin in 2007.

This win also made her the eighth female player, who has won 11 or more titles in a year. Martina Hingis won 12 titles in the year 1997.

GAIL and Paradip Port signed MoU for setting up of LNG terminal

GAIL India and Paradip Port Trust on 26 October 2013 signed a Memorandum of Understanding for setting up an offshore Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) terminal at Paradip Port, Odisha.

The MoU envisages setting up of the project with a capacity of 4 Million Metric Tonnes Per Annum (MMPTA) in Phase-I with a storage capacity of 170000 cubic metres. This will entail a total investment of 3108 crore rupees out of which Paradip Port would invest 650 crores rupees in breakwater & dredging and balance 2458 crores rupees will be invested by GAIL. The Phase-I of the project is targeted to be completed by 2017.

Sebastian Vettel won the F1 Indian Grand Prix 2013

Sebastian Vettel, the Red Bull driver on 27 October 2013 won the Formula One Indian Grand Prix 2013 at Buddha International Circuit. This is the third continuous victory of Vettel in the Indian Grand Prix. This is the tenth victory of the season of Vettle and thirty sixth victory of his career. He won the race almost 30 seconds ahead of NIco Rosberg of Mercedes. Romain Grosjean of Lotus was placed at third position.   

With this victory, Vettel became the quadruple champion and joined the group of legends like Michael Schumacher, Juan Manuel Fangio and Alain Prost. He is only the third to do it in a row after Juan Manuel Fangio and Michael Schumacher. He is the also the youngest quadruple champion, as Sumacher was of 32 when he achieved the fete, Fangio was of 45 and Prost was of 38.

Prime Minister of India, Manmohan Singh visited China

Prime Minister of India, Manmohan Singh was on a 3-day Official Visit to Beijing on 22-24 October 2013 at the invitation of the Chinese Premier Li Keqiang. During this visit India and China signed 9 agreements in total. The most important among them was the agreement on defence cooperation.

The Prime Ministers of India held discussions on bilateral, regional and global issues with a view to strengthening the partnership between the two countries. The two nations vowed to strengthen coordination and cooperation in multilateral forums including the BRICS, the BRICS and G20.

World Bank approved 250 Million Assistance US Dollars for Uttarakhand

The World Bank on 25 October 2013 approved 250 million US dollars assistance for Uttarakhand, in the wake of rains and landslides that killed several hundred people in the state in June 2013. The World Bank approved the assistance to help the state undertake rehabilitation work and improve its capacity for disaster management.

Geeta Chandran, Bharatnatyam exponent honoured with Guru Debaprasad Award

Renowned Bharatnatyam exponent Geeta Chandran was on 29 October 2013 honoured with the prestigious Guru Debaprasad Award for outstanding contribution in the field of dance. The award was presented to Geeta Chandran and three others by Odisha Governor S C Jamir at in Bhubaneswar.

The others Awardees are

• Dr. Anita Ratnam (Contemporary Dance)

• Guru Shashadhar Acharya (Chhau Dance)

• Guru Sudhakar Sahu (Odissi)

RBI Allowed Banks to Revise Periodicity of Interest Payments

The Reserve Bank of India on 29 October 2013 allowed the commercial banks to revise the periodicity of interest payments thus enabling savings bank account and term deposit holders to earn interest at shorter intervals.

The Second Quarter Review of Monetary Policy 2013-14 released by the RBI Governor Raghuram Rajan revealed that as all commercial banks are now on core banking platforms, it has been decided to give banks the option to pay interest on savings deposits and term deposits at intervals shorter than quarterly intervals. Presently, banks are required to pay interest on savings and term deposits at quarterly or longer intervals.

 The savings deposit rate for most banks is 4 per cent per annum, while in some cases, it is as high as 7 percent. The interest rate on savings bank accounts is calculated on a daily basis. Term deposit rates are 8-9 per cent for tenures of one year and above.

The Reserve Bank of India gave freedom to commercial banks to fix savings bank deposit rates in 2011. While giving banks this freedom, the RBI kept one condition that a uniform rate will have to be offered on deposits of up to 1 lakh Rupees, on higher amounts banks are allowed to offer differential rates to depositors.

P.S. Raghavan appointed as the next Russian Ambassador

P.S. Raghvan was appointed as the next Ambassador of India to Russia on 28 October 2013. At present, Raghvan, the IFS of 1979 batch is serving as the current Secretary in the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA). He will succeed Ajai Malhotra, who will retire on 30 November 2013.

India and Peru Signed MoUs to Strengthen Bilateral Cooperation

India and Peru signed 4 documents/Mous on during the official visit of the Vice President of India, Mohammad Hamid Ansari to Peru on 29 October 2013. The Vice President of India visited Peru to celebrate the 50th year of establishment of diplomatic ties between the two countries.

The Vice President of India held detailed discussions with the President of the Republic of Peru, Ollanta Humala Tasso and the first Vice President of Peru, Marisol Espinoza and the Minister of Foreign Affairsof Peru, Ms. Eda Rivas Franchini.

India and Peru signed documents in the field of education, defence cooperation, in the fields of Museum Development, Conversation of Movable Cultural Property and Dissemination and Promotion of Cultural Heritage.

Priyanka Chopra, the Bollywood Actress Became the Global Brand Ambassador of Guess

Priyanka Chopra, the Bollywood actress became the global brand ambassador of American fashion brand Guess in the last week of October 2013. She will endorse the brand from 2014. With this, Priyanka Chopra, who started her filmy career with the Tamil film Thamizhan, joined the league of Paris Hilton, Drew Barrymore and Claudia Schiffer as the brand ambassadors of Guess.

Bryan Adams, Canadian rock star and a photographer also shot the first campaign of Priyanka Chopra for Guess in its signature black and white collection. This will be released in November 2013.

Only other Indian actors who have been signed by the global brands as international brand ambassadors include Shahrukh Khan for Tag Heuer and Aishwarya Rai Bachchan for L'Oreal.

Reserve Bank of India Increased the Repo Rate by 25 Basis Points to 7.75 %from 7.50%

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on 29 October 2013 released the Second Quarter Review of Monetary Policy 2013-14.According the released statement by the RBI, the Repo rate increased by 25 basis points from 7.5 percent to 7.75 percent.

The highlights of the Second Quarter Review of Monetary Policy 2013-14

• RBI reduced the marginal standing facility (MSF) rate by 25 basis points from 9.0 percent to 8.75 percent with immediate effect.
• RBI also increased the policy repo rate under the liquidity adjustment facility (LAF) by 25 basis points from 7.5 percent to 7.75 percent with immediate effect.
• The liquidity provided through term repos of 7-day and 14-day tenor has been increased from 0.25 percent of net demand and time liabilities (NDTL) of the banking system to 0.5 percent with immediate effect.
• Cash Reserve Ratio (CRR) unchanged at 4 Percent
• Repo rate hiked due to upturn of inflation and other factors.
• Food price pressures may ease with the arrival of summer crop harvest and seasonal moderation.
• RBI downward FY14 GDP growth to 5 percent from 5.7 percent.
• Both WPI (wholesale price index) and CPI (consumer price index) inflation may stay range-bound around the current levels that remain above comfort levels.

About the Repo (Repurchasing operation) rate

Repo rate is the rate at which the central bank of a country (Reserve Bank of India in case of India) lends money to commercial banks in the event of any shortfall of funds. This is called repurchase rate because when they borrow money from the RBI, they keep government securities with the central bank as collateral. When they pay the money back to RBI, they take the collateral back.
Repo rate is used by monetary authorities to control inflation.

When inflation is high, central banks increase repo rate as this acts as a disincentive for banks to borrow from the central bank. This ultimately reduces the money supply in the economy and thus helps in arresting inflation. The central bank takes the contrary position in the event of a fall in inflationary pressures.

About Reverse repo

Reverse repo rate is the rate at which commercial banks lends to RBI. Repo rate is always higher than the reverse repo rate.

About Cash reserve ratio (CRR)  

Cash Reserve Ratio (CRR) is the amount of funds that all Scheduled Commercial Banks (SCB) excluding Regional Rural Banks (RRB) are required to maintain without any floor or ceiling rate with RBI with reference to their total net Demand and Time Liabilities (DTL) to ensure the liquidity and solvency of Banks.

About Statutory Liquidity Ratio (SLR)

 SLR stands for Statutory Liquidity Ratio. Apart from CRR, every bank is required to maintain in India at the close of business every day, a minimum proportion of their Net Demand and Time Liabilities as liquid assets in the form of cash, gold and un-encumbered approved securities. The ratio of liquid assets to demand and time liabilities is known as Statutory Liquidity Ratio (SLR). At present SLR is 23 percent.

About Marginal Standing Facility (MSF)

Marginal Standing Facility (MSF) is a new scheme announced by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) in its Monetary Policy (2011-12) and refers to the penal rate at which banks can borrow money from the central bank over and above what is available to them through the Liquidity Adjustment Facility window.

United Nations Day Observed Across the World on 24 October

24 October- United Nations Day

The United Nations Day was observed across the world on 24 October 2013. The UN Day is observed to mark the anniversary of entry into force in 1945 of the UN Charter. The founding document was ratified on this day by its signatories, including the five permanent members of the United Nations Security Council. With this, the United Nations came into being officially.

24 October is celebrated and observed as the UN day since the year 1948. In the year 1971, the UN General Assembly recommended that this day should be observed as the public holiday by the Member States.

Government of India Decided to Appoint Arup Raha as Chief of the Indian Air Force

The Government of India on 29 October 2013 decided to appoint Air Marshal Arup Raha as the next Chief of the Air Staff.

He will take the charge after the retirement of present Chief of the Air Staff NAK Browne on 31 December 2013. Air Marshal Arup Raha is presently the Vice Chief of Air Staff.

Prime Minister of India, Manmohan Singh visited Russia

Prime Minister of India, Manmohan Singh was on a 3-day Official Visit to Moscow on 20-22 October 2013 to attend the 14th India-Russian Annual Summit at the invitation of President Vladimir Putin.

The 14th India-Russia Annual Summit was held at Moscow on 21 October 2013. The summit was co-chaired by the Prime Minister of the India Dr. Manmohan Singh and the President of the Russia Vladimir V. Putin.

During the meeting they discussed priority areas of bilateral cooperation and noted common positions on current international and regional issues. Both sides stressed their continued commitment to promote and strengthen in every possible way their special and privileged strategic partnership.

During the 14th India-Russia Annual Summit, India and Russia signed bilateral Documents on transfer of Sentenced Persons, in the Field of Energy Efficiency, in the field of Standardization and Conformity Assessment between Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) and Federal Agency on Technical Regulation and Metrology, in the Fields of Science and in the area of Biotechnology.

Subhas Goswami Appointed as the Director General of ITBP

Subhas Goswami, director of the Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel National Police Academy appointed as the Director General (DG) of Indo Tibetan Border Police (ITBP) on 30 October 2013. He will succeed Ajay Chadha, IPS.

Bollywood Actress Kareena Kapoor honoured in the House of Commons

Bollywood actress Kareena Kapoor on 29 October 2013 was honoured in the House of Commons, London for her contribution to the global entertainment industry. The 33-year old actress was presented a framed golden coloured plaque by NRI MP Keith Vaz, Chairman of Britain’s Home Affairs Committee. Kareena was also honoured by the Asian Sunday Newspaper.
Besides Kareena, singer Kimberley Walsh and magician Dynamo (Aka Steven Frayne) were honoured by the Asian Sunday Newspaper for their contributions to the global entertainment-industry.

Kareena has several blockbuster films to her credit which includes Kabhi Khushi Kabhi Gham, Omkara, Jab We Met, 3 Idiots, Golmaal 3 and Bodyguard.

Kareena is the only Bollywood artist to be honoured at British Parliament after Amitabh Bachchan and she is the first Bollywood actress to be honoured by UK Parliament.

India Ranked 134th Spot in the Ease of Doing Business List: WB

India ranked to the 134th spot in the ease of doing business list according to the annual Doing Business report released on 29 October 2013 by World Bank and International Finance Corporation (IFC).
In the Ease of Doing Business ranking of 189 countries India has dropped from 131 spot in 2013 to 134th spot in 2014.

Highlights of the report

• The top ten nations in the Ease of Doing Business ranking are Singapore (1), Hong Kong (2), New Zealand (3), United States (4), Denmark (5), Malaysia (6), Korea (7), Georgia (8), Norway (9) and the United Kingdom (10).
• Among BRICS grouping, Russia is placed at 92nd spot, Brazil is ranked 116, South Africa is ranked the 41st rank and China ranked at 96th position.
•  India is also ranked lowest among the BRICS nations (Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa).
• Other neighbouring nations of India Nepal (105), Pakistan (110) and Bangladesh (130) are also ranked above India.

Gurdeep Singh Pall Appointed as the Corporate VP of Skype

Microsoft appointed on 30 October 2013 Gurdeep Singh Pall as the corporate vice president of Skype, a popular and free international voiceover and messaging service and Lync communications product. He will replace the Mark Gillett.

About Gurdeep Singh Pall

• Gurdeep Singh Pall, 46, born in Chandigarh.
• He completed his engineering degree in computer science from the Birla Institute of Technology and Science (BITS), Pilani.
• He also holds a master's degree in computer science from the University of Oregon.

India developed Surface-to-Surface Missile Pragati

India developed a new tactical surface-to-surface missile Pragati which has a range between 60-170 km. The missile is on offer to India’s friendly countries. The Pragati missile is based on the Prahaar missile and it has been developed by the DRDO for the Army. It was put on display at a defence exhibition at the Seoul International Aerospace and Defence Exhibition (ADEX 2013).

Besides 'Pragati' tactical missile, DRDO showcased, 'Akash' missile system and 'Tejas' LCA and its variants.

The LCA is a DRDO project which remains to be completed and the aircraft has not been inducted by the IAF so far. ADEX 2013 hosted more than 300 companies from 33 nations. DRDO's participation in ADX 2013 commemorates the 40th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between India and South Korea

Srishti Rana of India Was Crowned Miss Asia Pacific World 2013

Srishti Rana of India on 30 October 2013 was crowned Miss Asia Pacific World 2013 in Busan, South Korea.

Srishti Rana, 21, is the second Indian in a row to win the oldest Miss Asia Pacific World 2013.

Earlier, Zeenat Aman (1970), Tara Anne Fonseca (1973), Dia Mirza(2000) and Himangini Singh Yadu(2012) won Miss Asia Pacific World titles

Pankaj Razdan Appointed as the CEO and MD of the Birla Sun Life Insurance

Pankaj Razdan was appointed as the Chief Executive Officer and Managing Director of the Birla Sun Life Insurance (BSLI), life insurance arm of Aditya Birla Group on 30 October 2013.

About Pankaj Razdan

• He has 20 years of financial services industry experience across various functions and multiple lines of business.
• He acted as the managing director of ICICI Prudential.
• He joined in Aditya Birla Financial Services Group in 2007.

World's First Bitcoin ATM Launched in Vancouver, Canada

The world’s first Bitcoin ATM machine which can exchange digital currency - Bitcoins -for any official currency has launched in Vancouver, Canada on 29 October 2013.

The ATM machine, named Robocoin, installed at Waves Coffee Shop at Howe and Smithe, allows users to buy or sell the digital currency known as bitcoins. The ATM in Vancouver is operated by Las Vegas-based Robocoin and Vancouver-based Bitcoiniacs

About Bitcoins

• Bitcoin is a virtual currency that is unregulated by any central bank or government, but still works for purchasing goods and services from retailers willing to accept it.
• Bitcoins, which are created when they are "mined" or generated by a super computer, also trade on an open market that fluctuates much like a stock market.

How Bitcoin ATM works?

• Customers will need to have their palms scanned in order to exchange up to 3000 US dollars  worth of bitcoins per day.
• The bitcoins will then be transferred to and from the customer's on-line bitcoin wallet.
• Users will have the option to receive a paper voucher representing the transaction.

Bitcoin, which came into existence in 2009, is not controlled by any authority such as a central bank. The concept was introduced in 2008 by a pseudonymous developer known only as "Satoshi Nakamoto." The currency has reportedly gained notoriety for its use to buy illicit goods such as drugs on websites. However, bitcoins are increasingly being accepted by legitimate businesses around the world