CURRENT AFFAIRS 26-27th August, 2014

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CURRENT AFFAIRS 27th August, 2014

1. C.S.Verma was elected as First President of Indian Steel Association (ISA). Indian Steel Association was started by the Major domestic steel producers of India to improve the Quality, Productivity & Competitiveness of the steel industry.

2. Oil Ministry will seek Cabinet’s approval for deregulating diesel prices after retail rates achieve parity with global levels. It has also proposed to cut subsidy payout by upstream firm like ONGC by half.

3. Israel and Hamas agreed to an open-ended ceasefire halting a seven-week war that killed more than 2,200 people. The deal was mediated by Egypt and it allows Israel to ease imports into Gaza, including aid and material for reconstruction. Talks on more complex issues will be starting in a month.

4. President Pranab Mukherjee appointed Governors for four states - Rajasthan, Maharashtra, Karnataka and Goa. The four Governors are Kalyan Singh- Rajasthan, Vajubhai Rudabhai Vala- Karnataka, Ch. Vidyasagar Rao- Maharashtra and Mridula Sinha- Goa. Sheila Dikshit submitted her resignation as Kerala Governor to the President of India.

5. Reliance Jio Infocomm (RJIL) signed a deal with Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL) for sharing mobile towers and infrastructure. It has also signed deal with Bharti Airtel, Viom Network, Ascend Telecom Infrastructure, Reliance Communications and American Tower Company to utilise their infrastructure.

6. Indo-Russian Air Force Exercise, Avia Indra-2014 started at Astrakhan region, near the Caspian Sea in Russia. It is the first Indo-Russia aerial exercise that involves the air forces of the two countries. The exercise is conducted to boost cooperation between the air forces of two countries

CURRENT AFFAIRS 26th August, 2014

1. Government plans to set up solar power plants along the national border to provide electricity access to armed forces. The proposal is a brainchild of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and it will set up 1,000-mw plants with indigenous solar components on defence land and supply.

2. The final draft of the free trade agreement (FTA) on services and investment between India and the 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) is likely to be approved during the Asean-India economic ministers' meeting in Myanmar. Two-way trade between India and Asean is expected to reach $100 billion by 2015.

3. RBI is working with the government on redefining as to what constitutes a deposit collected by non bank entities. Central bank discussed strengthening the state- level coordination committees so that unauthorised deposit taking can be dealt with in a better way.

4. Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) is mulling ways for more stringent enforcement in cases of high-profile violations of insider trading norms. A revision of the insider trading regulations are expected to be put in place in a month.

5. Union textiles ministry is planning to freeze capacity of B Twill jute bags at 2.59 million bales (one bale is 180 kg) for 2014-15. It is based on the recommendation by Jute Commissioner Subrata Gupta who had advocated freeze in capacity since internal consumption of jute bags was lower than the actual capacity.

6. Standard & Poor's 500 Index rose above 2,000 for the first time indicating signs of more corporate takeovers and stimulus for the European economy. The Nasdaq Composite Index advanced to 4,566.61, the highest level since March 2000.