CURRENT AFFAIRS 1-2nd September, 2014

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CURRENT AFFAIRS 2nd September, 2014

1. State Bank of India (SBI) signed a loan agreement with the Japan Bank of International Cooperation (JBIC) to set up an export credit line in two currencies worth $152 million. The export credit line consists of 13.5 billion yen and $21 million which will be utilised for energy projects.

2. Reserve Bank of India (RBI) eased the norms for investing in banks’ additional tier-I and tier-II capital. Indian banks can issue tier-II capital with original maturity of at least five years and Call options on additional tier-I debt will be allowed at five years (as against 10 years earlier). It would ease pressure on the government to infuse capital into public sectors banks to meet Basel-III norms by March 2019

3. Asia's first Ballistic Research Centre will be coming up at Gujarat Forensic Science University (GFSU). The Centre will conduct tests for armoured vehicles of the Indian Army and also provide services to private players who supply vehicles to the VIPs. It will also provide services to other countries.

4. Karnataka launched a scheme ‘Surya Raitha Scheme’ which allows farmers to set up small solar power plants in their farms and sell power to the Karnataka Energy Regulatory Commission. The government will also supply solar pumpsets at subsidised prices to overcome the power crisis being faced by farmers.

5. United Bank of India (UBI) declared Kingfisher Airlines and its chairman Vijay Mallya as wilful defaulters for non-payment of Rs 400 crore of dues. Earlier, Kingfisher Airlines had moved the Calcutta High Court after the bank had identified it as wilful defaulters but the court had dismissed the plea allowing bank to declare them as wifi defaulters.

6. The Tokyo Declaration has resulted in a Special Strategic Global Partnership with Japan emphasising on increased economic and defence cooperation. Japan has promised $33.58 billion over the next five years under the India-Japan Investment Promotion Partnership for the development of economic corridors, infrastructure, transport system and smart cities.

CURRENT AFFAIRS 1st September, 2014

1. Department of ayurveda, yoga & naturopathy, unani, siddha and homoeopathy in the Union health ministry is to commission a study on ways to boost Indian systems of medicine. It is to help the herbal drug manufacturing industry and raise its export revenue. The National Medicinal Plant Board will oversee the project.

2. Israel announced a land appropriation of nearly 400 hectares in the occupied West Bank near Bethlehem. It has been termed the biggest in 30 years by PeaceNow, an anti-settlement group.

3. Former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh is appointed as a member of the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Finance which is headed by M Veerappa Moily. Moily was a minister in the Manmohan Singh government.

4. Centre has constituted a high-level committee to review environment laws in order to bring them in line with "current requirements". It is a four-member panel headed by former Cabinet Secretary TSR Subramanian. The panel has been asked to review five key green laws concerning protection and conservation of environment, forest, wildlife, water and air among others.

5. According to a survey of financial inclusion in India funded by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and conducted by InterMedia India, Goa has been the top performer in financial inclusion across almost all parameters in the survey. Gujarat, Bihar, Orissa and the North Eastern states lags on the two critical indicators - percentage of adults below poverty line having active digital accounts and per cent of rural women with active accounts. Gujarat stands out of the top 10 with 45 per cent of the adults in the sample having a bank account.