CURRENT AFFAIRS 29-30-31th Oct., 2014

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CURRENT AFFAIRS 31st Oct., 2014

1. Rashtriya Ekta Diwas was observed on 31 October 2014 to commemorate the 139th birth anniversary of Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel. Union Government has decided to observe 31 October as Rashtriya Ekta Diwas or National Integration Day to reiterate India’s strength and buoyancy against adversaries.

2. Government will start linking mobile SIM cards with Aadhaar numbers in the next two months. Centre does not intend to make the process mandatory although it will help them deal with the misuse of technology for diversion of subsidies, various criminal acts including terrorism and extortion as well as for making financial transactions on mobile more fool proof and robust.

3. Internet Giant Google has estimated Indian e-commerce to touch $30 -40 billion by 2020, from only $3 billion to 4 billion at present. Recently Snapdeal has raised $627 million from Japan’s Softbank Corporation which was preceded by $ 1 billion fund raising by Flipkart. Amazon has committed investment of $ 2 billion in India.

4. Lokesh Chandra was appointed by the President Pranab Mukherjee as chairman of India Council for Cultural Relations (ICCR) for a term of three years. He replaces Karan Singh who resigned from office on 18 August 2014.

5. Warren M Anderson, the former Chairman of Union Carbide Corporation who was blamed for the 1984 Bhopal gas tragedy died at the age of 92. Union government had requested the US government to extradite him several times but it denied always since the first extradition request in 2003 citing a lack of evidence.

CURRENT AFFAIRS 30th Oct., 2014

1. Moody's ‘Banking System Outlook India’ report has kept the outlook on India’s banking system negative. This is mainly because public sector banks have experienced higher growth rates in non-performing and restructured loans, as well as greater weakening in profits, than private sector banks and these trends are unlikely to improve for public sector banks.

2. Government would introduce a Bill in Parliament for setting up an independent regulator for the coal sector. The coal regulator may be likely tasked with determining a mechanism to price the fuel and specify methods to ensure supply of quality coal to the country’s power and steel plants.

3. Cabinet has relaxed norms for foreign direct investment (FDI) in construction development to make the sector more attractive for overseas investors. It has halved the minimum capital requirement for such projects from $10 million to $5 million. The easier rules will help speed up completion of projects which are delayed due to elevated debt levels.

4. Malala Yousafzai won the 2014 World’s Children Prize after a global vote involving millions of children. She received the prize at a ceremony in Mariestad near Stockholm. Indira Ranamagar and John Wood won the 2014 World's Children's honorary awards.

CURRENT AFFAIRS 29th Oct., 2014

1. Devendra Gangadharrao Fadnavis was unanimously elected as the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) legislature party leader in the Maharashtra Assembly. He is to become the first BJP chief minister in Maharashtra.

2. According to a report by the World Economic Forum, India has slipped further down from 101 rank last year to 114 out of 142 countries in the Gender Gap Index 2014. It is mainly down due to deterioration in economic participation and opportunity, as well as educational attainment. However country remains a role model in terms of political empowerment of women.

3. India is ranked 142nd among 189 countries in the latest World Bank’s ‘Ease of Doing Business’ report released. The new rank is a drop by two places from the last year’s ranking. The drop in India’s ranking from last year’s 140 is mainly because other nations have performed much better and it does not take into account the measures taken by the new government.

4. The Road Transport and Safety Bill (2014) is likely to be presented in the Winter Session of Parliament. The Bill has provisions for a unified driver licensing system and unified vehicle registration system linked with insurance across the country and also automated testing to eliminate human bias.

5. Managing Director (MD) and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of ING Vysya Bank Shailendra Bhandari resigned from his post. The appointment of Uday Sareen as MD & CEO of ING Vysya Bank is now subjected to approval of Reserve Bank of India.