News Roundup - 25 December 2014

1. Three years after a Supreme Court judgment legalised passive euthanasia under “exceptional circumstances,” the government has fully endorsed the apex court’s guidelines giving High Courts the power to decide on applications seeking permission to withdraw life support in the best interest of the patient.
2. Prime Minister Narendra Modi will inaugurate the 102nd Indian Science Congress at Mumbai on January 3.
3. CIL and GAIL, along with Rashtriya Chemicals and Fertilizers (RCF) and Fertilizer Corp of India Ltd (FCIL), will set up an integrated coal gasification-cum-fertilizer and ammonium nitrate complex at Talcher in Odisha by 2019.
4. Senior IAS officer S. Bhattacharya has been appointed as the Chairman and Managing Director of Coal India Ltd. (CIL).

Credits: The Hindu, Google.

News Roundup - 23 December 2014

1. The 13th edition of the Pravasi Bharatiya Divas will be held in Gujarat from January 7 to 9. Gujarat has been chosen as the partner State as 2015 happens to be the 100th year of Mahatma Gandhi’s return to India from South Africa.
2. Over two decades after it was first published, the first revised English edition of “Why I Assassinated Gandhi” – which includes Nathuram Godse’s statement before the court at the Red Fort trial in its “unabridged form,” the judgment and his will – is back in circulation. The revised edition has been compiled and edited by Virender Mehra. Farsight Publishers and Distributors — which brought out the revised edition six months ago in arrangement with Surya Bharti Prakashan, the original publishers of the book in 1993 — maintained that they took up the task because “both sides” of the assassination should come out. The ban on Nathuram Godse’s statement to the special court was lifted by the Bombay High Court in 1968.
3. Princess Cristina, the sister of Spain’s King Felipe VI, will be the first member of the royal family ever to appear in the dock after a judge on Monday ordered her to be tried for tax fraud. The historic decision comes after four years of investigations that plunged the royal family into crisis and contributed to the abdication of King Juan Carlos in June. She is accused of taking part in tax evasion by her husband, the former Olympic handball player Inaki Urdangarin. He is accused of embezzling and laundering millions of euros in public funds. Princess Cristina Federica of Bourbon and Greece is the youngest daughter of Juan Carlos and sixth in line to the Spanish throne. She married Urdangarin in 1997 in a glittering ceremony in Barcelona. The case is a big headache for King Felipe who took the throne on June 19 promising an “honest and transparent monarchy”.
4. The son of kung fu star Jackie Chan, Jaycee Chan, has been charged with providing a venue for others to use drugs.
5. Opening up of the coal sector and upgradation of state-run Coal India and its subsidiaries are vital for scaling up domestic production of the dry fuel, as per the final report of the Advisory Group for Integrated Development of Power, Coal, and Renewable Energy.
6. Jet Airways (India) concluded a $150-million (about Rs.945 crore) five-year syndicated loan facility, which was fully subscribed by banks spread across the Middle East region. 

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News Roundup - 22 December 2014

1. India may end support to Palestine at UN. It is in stark contrast with the policy till now. Starting with 1974 when India voted against partition of Palestine. In 1974, it became the first non-Arab State to recognise Palestine Liberation Organisation as the sole, legitimate representative of Palestinians. In 1988, it became one of the first countries to recognise the state of Palestine. In 1996, it opened representative office in Gaza.In 1999, it co-sponsored the draft resolution on right of Palestinians to self-determination. In 2003, it voted against building of separation wall by Israel.In 2011, India voted to admit Palestine as full member of the UNESCO. In 2012, it voted to grant Palestine non-observer State status at UN. In 2014, it supported UNHRC resolution to launch probe into Israel's offensive in Gaza.
2. Only 21.62 crore people (17% of total population) were covered by health insurance at the end of March 2014, as per estimate by IRDA. However, as per World Bank Report released in Oct 2012, "Government-Sponsored Health Insurance in India: Are you Covered?", over 30 crore people (>25%  of total population).

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News Roundup - 20 December 2014

1. China is setting the stage for linking southeast Asia with its New Silk Road initiative, through a railway corridor that would connect the country’s Yunan province with Thailand and Laos.
2. Pakistan became an associate member of CERN, the world’s top particle physics lab for nuclear research, allowing the nuclear-armed country to have more access to the Swiss-based facility’s research.
3. Australian Engineering Group Downer EDI has won a $2-billion contract from Adani group’s Carmichael Coal Mine project in Queensland in one of the largest deals of its type signed in the country in recent years.
4. Online restaurant search firm Zomato acquired Italy’s restaurant search service Cibando. Cibando has 82,000 restaurants listed across various cities in Italy and has now a 10-member team. Zomato said it would invest $6 million in Italy over the next two years to grow the team and the business in the country. This is Zomato’s fifth acquisition. Zomato acquired MenuMania in New Zealand, Lunchtime in Czech Republic, Obedovat in Slovakia, and Gastronauci in Poland recently.
5. Apart from subsuming various Central indirect taxes and levies and State taxes, the Constitution (122^nd Amendment) Bill, introduced in the Lok Sabha, confers simultaneous power to Union and State legislations to legislate on Goods and Service Tax (GST). All goods and services, except alcoholic liquor for human consumption, will be brought under the purview of GST. Petroleum and petroleum products have also been constitutionally brought under GST. However, it has also been provided that petroleum products shall not be subject to the levy of GST till notified at a future date on the recommendation of the GST Council. The present taxes levied by the States and the Centre on petroleum and petroleum products, i.e., Sales Tax/VAT, CST and Excise duty only, will continue to be levied in the interim period.

Credits: The Hindu, Google.

News Roundup - 19 December 2014

1. Pakistani authorities detain Zakiur Rehman Lakhvi, a key planner of the 2008 Mumbai attack, for three more months. He was granted bail by a court that caused an outrage in India.
2. Government has decided to pay 8.75% interest on provident fund for 2014-15.

Credits: Google.

News Roundup - 18 December 2014

1. The International Boxing Association (AIBA) has suspended former world champion and multiple Asian winner L. Sarita Devi from all levels of boxing activities for one year, starting from October 1 2014 (the date of the Asian Games medal ceremony). She will however be able to participate in the qualifying events for the 2016 Rio Olympics.
2. Tashi Malik and Nungshi Malik from Dehradun scaled Mount Vinson, Antarctica’s highest mountain at 4,892 metres and’ have become the world’s first twins and siblings to climb the highest peaks on the seven continents. The 23-year-old twins accomplished their “Mission 2 for 7” on Tuesday night (IST) when they conquered the mountain. The mission, which they have dedicated to the cause of the Indian girl child, started by conquering Mt. Kilimanjaro in February 2012. The mission progressed as they conquered Mt. Everest in May 2013; Mt. Elbrus in August 2013; Mt. Aconcagua in January 2014; Mt. Carstensz Pyramid in March 2014; and Mt. McKinley in June 2014.
3. United States announced a “historic” thaw in relations with Cuba, saying it would work to re-establish diplomatic ties with Havana and ease long-standing trade and travel sanctions. The United States imposed a trade embargo against Cuba — the Cold War foe closest to its shores — in 1960 and the two countries have not had diplomatic relations since 1961. It hurt the Caribbean island state’s economy, but it failed to unseat the Havana governments led first by revolutionary leader Fidel Castro and latterly by his brother Raul.
4. USAID head Rajiv Shah announced that he is going to step down.
5. U.K. on Wednesday announced its first woman Bishop, Reverend Libby Lane (Bishop of Stockport), exactly a month after historic change was made to the law to end centuries of male domination of the Church of England.
6. Microsoft is looking at starting a pilot project of its ‘White-Fi’ technology that uses the unused spectrum in frequencies used for broadcasting of television signals, and is likely to offer solution to tackle the problem of last mile broadband connectivity in the country. The pilot, once started, is expected to last for about three months. Other countries where Microsoft has helped implement the technology are Kenya, Singapore, the U.S. and London. The 200-600 MHz frequency is used for TV channels to carry data. In India, 93 per cent of this spectrum is not utilised.
7. India is on track to achieve projected 5.5 per cent economic growth rate in 2014-15 - Asian Development Bank.

 Credits: The Hindu, Google.

News Roundup - 16 December 2014

1. Aishwarya Rai Bachchan honoured with a special award at the glittering Miss World 2014 ceremony in London for her charity work since being crowned Miss World in 1994. South African beauty Rolene Strauss crowned Miss World 2014. Miss Hungary, Edina Kulcsar, was the runner-up and Miss United States, Elizabeth Safrit, came in third.
2. The creator of the Rock Garden, Nek Chand, attended the function to celebrate his 90th birthday in Chandigarh.
3. Google is one of the major U.S. corporations researching the power of colour in the working world. 
4. Denmark will lay claim to energy-rich, but contested territory around the North Pole by submitting data to the U.N. which it says demonstrates the area is an extension of its continental shelf. The Danish government said it would tell the U.N. Commission on the Limits of the Continental Shelf that data collected since 2002 supports its claim to ownership over an area of about 895,000 sq. km beyond the current nautical borders of Greenland, an autonomous Danish territory. Norway already lays claim to an area overlapping the one outlined in the Danish submission to the U.N., and there is “potential overlap with Canada, the Russian Federation and the U.S.
5. Vienna school officials have ordered the closure of a Saudi Arabian school accused of teaching anti-Semitism, after it refused to comply with a request to identify the institution’s director and teachers.
6. Declining for the fifth straight month, wholesale inflation dropped to a six-year low of 0 per cent in November. The data, however, shows a larger drop than the actual decline in prices owing to favourable statistical illusion of a high base: wholesale inflation growth was 7.5 per cent in November, 2013. Wholesale food inflation was down to 0.6 per cent against 19.7 per cent in November, 2013, with prices of cereals, rice, wheat, vegetables and onions falling. However, potatoes and milk continued to show high inflation. While potato prices grew at the rate of 34 per cent, the rate of rise in milk prices was 10 per cent. Rice and pulses too rose but at slower pace of 5.6 per cent and 4.4 per cent. With global crude prices down nearly 40 per cent since June, wholesale inflation in fuels came in at minus 4.9 per cent against 11.08 per cent in November, 2013. The dip in producer prices comes days after consumer price inflation abated to an 8-year low of 4.4 per cent.
7. Vistara received its air operator permit (AOP) from the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA). Vistara is a 51:49 joint venture between Tata Sons and Singapore Airlines Ltd. The company, which will be headquartered at New Delhi, will begin operations with its fleet of brand new Airbus A 320-200s. It will soon make an announcement on the start of sales, routes and schedules.
8. Mastek said its 100 per cent subsidiary Majesco, which is into core insurance systems and services, entered into a definitive merger agreement with the U.S.-based Cover-All Technologies Inc. in a 100 per cent stock-for-stock transaction. The transaction is expected to close in the second quarter 2015 and both companies will continue to operate as separate entities until then.

 Credits: The Hindu, Google.

News Roundup - 15 December 2014

1. Mauritius President on Sunday named veteran Anerood Jugnauth as Prime Minister, after the 84-year-old won a landslide.
2. Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe won a comfortable re-election on Sunday in a snap poll that he had billed as a referendum on his economic policies.

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News Roundup - 13 December 2014

1. The factory output, as measured by the Index of Industrial Production (IIP), contracted by 4.2 per cent in October, on account of de-growth in the manufacturing sector and poor demand for consumer goods. The factory output had declined by 1.2 per cent in October last year.
2. Declining for the fifth consecutive month, retail inflation dropped to 4.38 per cent in November, the lowest since the new series of data was introduced in January, 2012, on the back of high-base effect of last year and softening of prices of food items. The Consumer Price Index-based inflation or retail inflation stood at 5.52 per cent in October, while it was 11.16 per cent in November, 2013.
3. Ami Bera, the lone Indian-American serving in the Congress and his Republican colleague George Holding would be the new co-chairs of the powerful Congressional Caucus on India.

Credits: The Hindu, Google.

News Roundup - 11 December 2014

1. Web Index released by the World Wide Web Foundation : India ranks behind China and other BRICS nations in a comprehensive index aimed at measuring the Internet’s contribution to social, economic and political progress. India’s Internet penetration rate is comparable to Nepal or Namibia’s, and despite promises of a digital revolution, the Web is still inaccessible to a large swathe of the population. Affordability is India’s biggest concern as the cost of broadband access in the country is greater than in countries in the neighbourhood such as Bangladesh.
2. A technical survey to restore a 496-km-long historic road link between Guwahati and Dhaka via Shillong and Sylhet, snapped during Partition, began.
3. The Supreme Court on Wednesday allowed the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) to postpone its annual general meeting (AGM) and election of office-bearers to January- end.
4. A proposal to give Rs.5 lakh each to the kin of the 1984 anti-Sikh riot victims, triggered after the assassination of former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi, was approved by the Cabinet. The compensation to the families of the riot victims will be given in addition to what they have received so far from the government and other agencies.
5. The Maharashtra government on Wednesday banned Web-based cab services in the State following an “advice” from the Centre in the wake of the rape of a 27-year-old woman executive in a taxi in the national capital.
6. A goods train from China completed the world’s longest rail journey when it reached Madrid, its final destination. The train connecting China to Spain passed through seven nations in Asia and Europe, covering a mammoth 13,000 km. The train was flagged off from China’s international commodity hub of Yiwu on November 18 with 40 wagons, carrying 1,400 tonnes of cargo, consisting of stationery, craft products and Christmas market products. It will return to China filled with luxury Spanish produce such as cured ham, olive oil and wine, state-run Xinhua news agency reported. The historic first journey will be evaluated with the aim of opening a regular two-way rail link between China and Spain, which could commence operations in early 2015. 
7. Swedish police have raided a server room in Stockholm in an action targeting the file-sharing website The Pirate Bay.
8. Chairman of the Rajya Sabha Select Committee Chandan Mitra tabled the report on the Insurance Laws (Amendment) Bill, 2008, recommending a hike in FDI in insurance sector from 26 to 49 per cent.

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News Roundup - 10 December 2014

1. A rare and historic idol of Lord Raghunath, among other items, was stolen from the Ram Temple in Kullu town in Himachal Pradesh.
2. The Saudi Arabia government has approved an agreement for recruitment of Indian domestic workers including maids, media reported.
3. State Bank of India launched a tool to track manufacturing activity & offer a forward-looking economic trend. The SBI Composite Index rivals the existing data point from British lender HSBC. The SBI index has been developed on the basis of the bank’s internal loan portfolio, which mirrors the credit demand in the country, and other data sets available in public domain. The bank has created two indices — the SBI Monthly Composite Index and the SBI Yearly Composite Index. Both fulfil complementary purposes such as month-on-month sentiment movement and year-on-year growth forecast, respectively. The index would also take into account other indicators of economic activities such as consumer spending, mining, interest rates, inflation and exchange rates on a monthly basis. The indices would be released every month post-RBI’s credit growth number.

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News Roundup - 9 December 2014

1. Carnatic music exponent and guru Nedunuri Krishna Murthy died.
2. Four Infosys co-founders, including Narayana Murthy and Nandan Nilekani, and their families on Monday sold shares worth over $ 1 billion (Rs 6,484 crore) — within months of all original promoters exiting the management and Vishal Sikka becoming the first outsider CEO. While these four co-founders, including former CEO S. D. Shibulal and K. Dinesh, have monetised only part of their holdings — for entrepreneurship and philanthropic activities — their action led to a sharp plunge of about 5 per cent in the IT giant’s share price, eroding almost $ 2 billion from the company’s market capitalisation.
3. Supreme Court questioned suspended BCCI president N. Srinivasan’s dual role as the head of the national cricketing body and IPL team owner, whose son-in-law has been found prima facie guilty of betting.
4. A Boeing aircraft has completed the world’s first flight using ‘green diesel’, a sustainable biofuel made from vegetable oils, waste cooking oil and animal fats. The company powered its ecoDemonstrator 787 flight test airplane on December 2 with a blend of 15 per cent green diesel and 85 per cent petroleum jet fuel in the left engine. Sustainable green diesel is widely available and used in ground transportation. Boeing previously found that this fuel is chemically similar to HEFA (hydro-processed esters and fatty acids) aviation biofuel approved in 2011. Green diesel is chemically distinct and a different fuel product than “biodiesel,” which also is used in ground transportation. With production capacity of 800 million gallons (three billion litres) in the U.S., Europe and Asia, green diesel could rapidly supply as much as one per cent of global jet fuel demand. On a lifecycle basis, sustainably produced green diesel reduces carbon emissions by 50 to 90 per cent compared to fossil fuel, according to Finland-based Neste Oil, which supplied green diesel for the ecoDemonstrator 787.
5. The world’s first handcrafted herbal Holy Koran, made from about 200 medicinal plants, has been unveiled. The Koran has been made by the Islamic arts and calligraphy company, Heddem Arts and has been crafted over 23 years from 1957 to 1979 by Turkish Unani Doctor Hamdi Taher. The Koran is made of high potency herbal mixtures prepared as per Unani medical system. The herbal-cream-written Koran includes 606 pages and weighs about 7.5 kg.
6. SC lifted a three-year-old ban on Hookah smoking.
7. The U.S. and NATO closed their combat command in Afghanistan, more than 13 years after invading the country in the wake of the September 11 terror attacks to target al-Qaeda and Osama bin Laden.

Credits: The Hindu, Google.

News Roundup - 8 December 2014

1. The bottom 10% of Indian population held just 0.2% of the country’s total wealth in 2014, while top 10% held 74%. Top 1% alone held almost 50%. The share of top 10% increased by nearly 10 percentage points since 2000. The share of top 1% historically lower than the share of top 1% globally, has been growing faster than the rest of the world. Still, Indians make nearly 20% of world’s poorest tenth and just 0.5% of world’s richest 1%. – Credit Suisse.
2. China Machinery Engineering Corporation is building a water treatment plant with a supply capacity of 54000 cubic meters a day in Sri Lanka. The Chinese company had earlier constructed $1.2 bn Lakvijaya coal fired power plant in Sri Lanka. China sees Sri Lanka as one of the important elements of Maritime Silk Road (MSR), which will connect its Fujian province with Europe. The MSR would transit through the Indian Ocean via India, Sri Lanka, Maldives, Nairobi in Kenya, and terminate in Venice after crossing the Mediterranean via the Suez Canal. China is also engaged in expansion of Hambantota Port in the Southern Sri Lanka, with two loans of $600 mn (provided by Exim Bank of China) and 1bn Yuan (provided by Chinese Government). The first phase of the Hambantota port was also financed by China.
3. India sent water to Male and is the first country to respond to its distress call. The water was sent by INS Deepak, a large fleet tanker carrying 900 tons of water. It is capable of providing 100 tons of water a day using its desalination plants. INS Sukanya, an Offshore Patrol vessel, with capacity to produce 20 tons a day was also sent.
4. Kundankulan Nuclear Power Plant back on stream and would begin commercial operations soon. Its maximum capacity is 1000 MWe.
5. Indian engineering exports to China declined nearly 50% yoy. ($310 mn in Oct 2014 against $612 mn in Oct 2013) whereas the total engineering exports declined 9.36% to $5.03bn in Oct.
6. India broke Pakistan’s Guinness world record by creating largest human flag (30,000 people vs 28,957) in Chennai.
7. NASA’s New Horizons probe, launched in January 2006, to study Pluto and its moons (largest moon is Charon) has been woken up from Hibernation.
8. Communication satellite GSAT 16 launched on board an Arianespance rocket from Kourou in French Guiana. It was a dual satellite launch with a lift-off mass of 3,181 Kg ejected into space four minutes after its co-passenger DIRECTTV-14 spacecraft designed to provide direct-to-home TV broadcasts across the US. GSAT-16 has 24 C band, 12 Ku band & 12 upper extended C-band transponders. Its 48 transponders (largest ever carried by a communication satellite built by ISRO) would be joining 180-odd existing ones.
9. Russian President Vladimir Putin to visit Delhi on December 10.  Mr Putin & Mr Modi are likely to unveil two vision documents on strategic, nuclear and economic issues & may appear at World Diamond Congress. Since July, the relations between the countries are strained as Russia has entered into defence cooperation agreement with Pakistan. Its Defence Minister visited Pakistan for the first time and a Russian delegation took part in Karachi Defence Expo. Whereas, India has increased defence procurement from US. With just $10bn in bilateral trade in 2013, India & Russia are not likely to meet their target of $15bn by 2015.

Credits:The Hindu, Google.

News Roundup - 7 December 2014

1. Observing that Muslim girls who attain puberty or complete 15 years of age are eligible for marriage under the Muslim law, the Gujarat High Court has upheld the marriage of a minor girl from the community.
2. The chief of al-Qaeda’s global operations, Adnan Shukrijuma, wanted by the United States over a 2009 plot to attack the New York subway system, was killed in a raid in Pakistan’s restive tribal region, its military has said.
3. China’s anti-corruption campaign has targeted a former state security chief and a one-time Politburo member, Mr Zhou Yongkang, who is now facing arrest after being sacked from the Communist Party of China (CPC). Mr. Zhou is the highest-ranking official probed for corruption since 1949.
4. Typhoon Hagupit slammed into the central Philippines’ east coast.
5. Britain will broaden its military footprint in West Asia with the establishment of a permanent military base at the Mina Salman Port in Bahrain. It will be Britain’s first permanent military base in West Asia since it withdrew from the region in 1971, closing all bases east of the Suez. The naval base will become the springboard for Britain’s involvement in West Asia, most importantly its operations in Iraq as part of the U.S.-led collation against the Islamic State. The U.K. already has four mine-hunter warships permanently based in Bahrain that supports British destroyers and frigates in the Gulf.  The base will be built by Bahrain at a cost of £15 million, with the British underwriting the ongoing costs. It will be completed in 2015. Bahrain used to be a protectorate of the British, which is returning to the country with such a big security presence after a gap of 40 years. The country already hosts the Naval Support Activity Bahrain controlled by the U.S. government, which is the port where the U.S. Fifth Fleet is positioned. It is also where the U.S. Naval Forces Central Command for the region is headquartered.
6. The first Adaptation Gap Report by the United Nations Environment Programme says even with emissions cuts, costs of adapting to climate change are likely to be two to three times the current estimates of $70-100 billion per year by 2050.
7. Welspun India, part of the $3.5-billion Welspun group and among the world’s top three towel manufacturers, on Saturday, unveiled one of the largest spinning mills here to support its growing home textiles exports business.
8. Russian oil pipeline company Petrolight has signed a long-term agreement with Aratos Technologies India to provide pipeline security solutions in the oil and gas sector. The pact comes ahead of Russian President Vladmir Putin’s visit to India.

Credits: The Hindu, Google.

News Roundup - 6 December 2014

1. India’s ‘Doing Business’ ranking is an abysmally low 142 among 189 countries ranked, down from 140 last year. World Bank team will suggest changes in commercial legislation — at local, State and national levels — so that the government can undertake reform.
2. Sikorsky of the United States has been selected for supply of 16 multirole helicopters for the Indian Navy in a contract worth Rs. 6,000 crore. Sikorsky’s S-70B helicopter was the sole bid left in the fray after “partial ban” on the European company Finmeccanica. A “partial ban” was imposed on Finmeccanica, the parent company of AgustaWestland after the controversy over the Rs. 3,550-crore VVIP helicopter deal, in August this year. The partial ban meant the company would not be able to take part in any future defence deals. Indian Navy, in 2008, floated a global tender for 16 multirole helicopters to operate from its warships with an option for eight more. Finmecccanica with its NH-90 and Sikrosky with S-70B were left in the evaluation which saw many claims and counter claims of deviation in the process. S-70B is the naval variant of the US Army’s Black Hawk UH 60 helicopter. It can be used both for anti-surface and anti-submarine warfare.
3. The 1962 Nobel Prize medal won by biologist James Watson for the discovery of the structure of DNA has fetched more than $4.7 million, setting a world record for any Nobel Prize sold at auction.
4. Prime Minister Narendra Modi was on Friday named ‘Asian of the Year’ by Singapore Press Holdings Limited, publisher of The Straits Times for being focused on India’s development and getting the world “excited” about the prospects of the country again.
5. Reliance Industries Ltd (RIL) has signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with Mexico’s state-owned company Petroleos Mexicanos (PEMEX) to explore opportunities in upstream oil and gas sector in Mexico and jointly evaluate value added opportunities in international markets.
6. SBICAP Trustee Company Limited (SBICTCL), launched an online Will creation service for all individuals, including State Bank of India and non-State Bank of India customers.
7. ICICI Bank has decided to sell its shareholding in ICICI Bank Eurasia Limited Liability Company (IBEL), a non-material wholly-owned banking subsidiary in Russia, to Sovcombank, an unrelated third party Russian bank.

Credits: The Hindu, Google.

News Roundup - 5 December 2014

1. Eminent jurist, statesman and human rights activist Justice VR Krishna Iyer passed away. He was 100.
2. Just three days before the 22nd anniversary of the Babri Mosque’s demolition, the oldest plaintiff in the Ram Janmabhoomi-Babri Masjid case, Hashim Ansari declared on Wednesday that he would withdraw from the case and advocated construction of a Ram temple at the disputed site. 93-year-old Ansari and Hindu sant Paramhans Ramchandra Das were the two litigants who filed the Ram Janmabhoomi-Babri Masjid title suit. Das is dead.
3. Actor Deven Verma dead.\
4. Senior Congress leader and former Union Minister Murli Deora passes away.
5. Ending a year of confusion over nursery admissions, the Delhi High Court on Friday quashed Lieutenant-Governor Najeeb Jung’s point system stating that private-unaided schools can set their own criteria for nursery admissions.
6. Supreme Court allowed Sahara Group to sell four of its domestic properties that may fetch Rs2,600 crore. Sahara has already deposited with SEBI around Rs8,000 crore, and if the proposed sale goes through, it will help Roy buy his freedom. The SC has asked him to deposit Rs1,000 crore to SEBI as a condition for his bail. The properties are located at Jodhpur, Vasai, Gurgaon, and Pune.
7. Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday vowed to connect India’s North-East region with its eastern neighbours and said he will ensure that the landlocked region of the country became the gateway to South-East Asia. He reiterated his Government’s commitment to provide Rs28,000 crore for laying new railway lines in the region. He was inaugurating the annual Hornbill Festival of Nagaland (at Kisama Village near Kohima)  and dedicating to the nation the second unit of the gas-based thermal power project at Palatana in Tripura. He also informed that his Government had signed an agreement with Japan to open an economic corridor with Myanmar, which would boost employment in the region. The Prime Minister said that India had provided all help and support to Bangladesh during the 1971 Liberation War and added that India’s support to Bangladesh would continue. It may be mentioned here that the Rs 10,000-crore Palatana gas-based thermal power project is one of the biggest capital investments in India. With the second unit of the project becoming operational, it is expected to generate 627 MW power.
8. Father Kuriakose Elias Chavara and Sister Euphrasia from India are among six conferred Sainthood by Pope Francis on Sunday at a special canonisation mass, a moment of elation and spiritual fervour for the Christians in India.
9. India gave a 200-bed trauma centre to Nepal. Nine agreements were also inked. Among them was one for project development agreement (PDA) for the Arun III Hydropower project. Both sides also kicked off a Kathmandu-Delhi bus service being run by the Delhi Transport Corporation (DTC). Modi also handed over the keys of a Dhruv Advanced Light Helicopter to Nepal's army and a mobile soil testing laboratory to the country. Both countries also inked the Motor Vehicles Act that would allow regular bus service between the two nations. The other agreements inked are on setting up of a Nepal Police Academy, tourism and traditional medicines, Sister City Agreements between Janakpur and Ayodhya, Kathmandu and Vanarasi, and Lumbini and Bodhgaya.
10. e-auction of 74 coal blocks, 42 of which are currently producing coal and the remaining 32 are on the verge of production, will take place on February 11, 2015, while the Government aims to announce the final award of the reserves by March 16, 2015. At the same time it will ensure that power tariffs don’t go up post the bidding process. Only entities having end-use projects in power, steel and cement sectors will participate in the exercise.

 CHRONOLOGY OF AYODHYA DISPUTE 

1528: Babur, Mughal Empire, builds a mosque on Ram Janmabhoomi site. Hindus say Janmabhoomi is the birthplace of Lord Ram

1853: First recorded incidents of religious violence at the site 1859: British colonial administration erects a fence to separate the places of worship, allowing the inner court to be used by Muslims and the outer court by Hindus

1885: Mahant Raghubar Das files a suit seeking permission to build a canopy on Ram Chabootra

1949: Idols of Lord Ram appear inside mosque. Muslims protest and both parties file civil suits. The Government proclaims the premises a disputed area and locks the gates

1950: Inner courtyard gates are locked, but puja is allowed

1984: Hindus form a committee to “liberate” the birth-place of Lord Ram and build a temple

1986: On a petition of Hari Shanker Dubey, a judge directs masjid gates be unlocked to allow darshan. Muslims set up Babri Mosque Action Committee in protest

1989: VHP steps up campaign, laying the foundations of a Ram temple on land adjacent to the disputed mosque

1992: The mosque is demolished

2002: The Allahabad High Court directs the Archaeological Survey of India to excavate the site to determine if a temple lay underneath

2003: The survey says there is evidence of a temple beneath the mosque, but Muslims dispute the findings

2005: Suspected Islamic militants attack the disputed site

Sept 2010: Allahabad HC rules that the site should be split, with the Muslim community getting control of a third, Hindus another third and the Nirmohi Akhara sect the remainder

May 2011: SC suspends HC ruling after Hindu and Muslim groups appeal against the 2010 verdict

Credits: The Pioneer, Google.

News Roundup - 04 December 2014

1. Union Science and Technology Minister Harsh Vardhan on Tuesday signed a multilateral agreement admitting India’s participation in the development of the Thirty-Metre Telescope (TMT) in Hawaii.
2. India has agreed to spend Rs.1299.8 crore in a multilateral agreement in the development of the Thirty-Metre Telescope (TMT), world’s largest,  in Hawaii. TMT will contain 492 hexagonal mirror segments of 82 different kinds. These will behave like a single mirror with an aperture of 30-metre diameter. This large collecting area of 650 square metres is thrice as sensitive as the Hubble Space Telescope. India’s role will primarily be to create the control systems and software that keep the mirrors aligned and collect the data. The control system is an intricate process involving edge sensors that detect the mutual displacement of mirrors, actuators to correct their alignment, and the segment support assembly. These will be manufactured by General Optics (Asia) in Puducherry, Avasarala Technologies and Godrej in Bengaluru respectively. India would also manufacture 100 aspherical mirror segments in Hoskote near Bengaluru. The telescope is expected to be ready by 2024. Institutions from the United States, Canada, Japan and China are also participating in the construction of the world’s largest telescope on Mount Mauna Kea. This telescope, 4207 metres above sea level, may cost more than $1.47 billion.
3. Anil Kumar Sinha is the new CBI chief.
4. Global Corruption Perception Index 2014 : India now ranks 85 among 175 countries, with countries such as Sri Lanka, Thailand and Burkina Faso for company. Denmark ranks first, as it did in 2013, while Somalia and North Korea share the bottom spot. India ranks better than all its South Asian neighbours, except Bhutan.
5. GSAT-16, the communications satellite being put in orbit for ISRO from French Guiana on December 5 will significantly improve the national space capacity with 48 transponders. The addition is important as GSAT-16 comes 11 months after the last Indian communication satellite GSAT-14 was flown in January this year. In fact, this launch was advanced by about six months to meet user needs, ISRO Chairman, K.Radhakrishnan, noted ahead of the launch. This is also the highest number of transponders packed into an Indian spacecraft so far.
6. Google has launched a new application, Google My Business, for SMBs.
7. Relaxing norms for Pre-paid Payment Instruments (PPIs), the Reserve Bank of India, doubled the card limit to Rs.1 lakh. 
8. The once impregnable Golconda Fort suffered damage when one side of its huge door fell due to ‘rust and decay’. The left door of the historic Moti Darwaza got uprooted and rested precariously on the other door. Right door had collapsed similarly in 2006 due to decay before being replaced.

Credits: The Hindu, Google.