Gk Power Capsule July 2014

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GKPowerCapsule–July`2014(TheHinduReview)

1. Subhash Sheoratan Mundra took charge as the

fourthDeputyGovernorof theReserveBankofIndia for three years. Hewas appointed to fillthe vacancy created by the KC Chakrabarty.Before being appointed as Deputy Governor ofRBI, S S Mundra was the Chairman andManagingDirectorofBankofBaroda.

2. Lt.GeneralDalbirSinghSuhagtookoverasChiefof Army Staff. He succeeded General BikramSinghtobecomethe28thArmyChief.

3. Chief of Air Staff, Air Chief Marshal Arup Rahatook over as the Chairman of the Chief of StaffCommittee(COSC).

4. Amitabh Bachchan was appointed as thehorticultureambassadorofMaharashtra.

5. Veteran BJP leader Kaptan Singh Solanki wasappointedastheGovernorofHaryana.

6. The Comptroller & Auditor General of India,Shashi Kant Sharma assumed office asMemberof the United Nations Board of Auditors for atermofsixyear.

7. The Supreme Court appointed R S Cheema asSpecialPublicProsecutorfortrial incoalblocksallocationscam.

8. Keshari Nath Tripathi was sworn in as 22ndGovernorofWestBengal.

9. Ram Naik was sworn in as 27th Governor ofUttarPradeshinLucknow.

10. YellapragadaSudharshanRaowasappointedasChairman of Indian Council of HistoricalResearch(ICHR).

11. BAshok took charge as Chairman of IndianOilCorporation(IOC),theIndia’slargestoilfirm.

12. PresidentofIndia,PranabMukherjeeappointedBalramji Dass Tandon as the Governor ofChhattisgarh,OmPrakashKohliastheGovernorofGujarat,PadmanabhaBalakrishnaAcharyaastheGovernorofNagaland.

13. Emma Watson, the British Actress wasappointed as the Goodwill Ambassador for UNWomen.

14. JusticeArunMishra, JusticeAdarshKumarGoeland Justice Rohington F Nariman wereappointedasSupremeCourtjudges.

15. M S Mehta was appointed as Chief ExecutiveOfficer(CEO)ofRelianceInfrastructure.

16. ExternalAffairsMinisterSushmaSwarajvisitedNepal.She co‐chaired the meeting of the Indo‐NepalJointCommission.IndiaandNepalagreedto review and adjust the Treaty of Peace andFriendship of 1950 to reflect the currentrealities.

This GK Capsule has been prepared by Career Power Institute Delhi (Formerly Known as Bank Power). This has

been prepared on the basis of news and events appeared in The Hindu Newspaper in the month of July 2014.


17. TheWorldBankPresidentJimYongKimarrivedinNewDelhi,Indiaonhisthree‐dayvisit.

18. Prime Minister of India Narendra Modi visitedBrazil to attend the 6th BRICS Summit inFortaleza, Brazil form 15 July to 16 July 2014.BRICSgroupincludesBrazil,Russia,India,Chinaand South Africa. One of the most importantdecision taken was the creation of 100 billiondollar New Development Bank with equalcontribution from all the BRICS countries.Besides,theSummitalsosawthecreationof100billiondollarContingencyReserveArrangement(CRA) fund for the BRICS nation. The 7thSummitwill be held in 2015 in Russian city ofUfa.

19. Deputy National Security Adviser Nehchal

Sandhuresigned.20. The Prime Minister of Ukraine, Arseniy

Yatsenyuk resigned from his post fromVerkhovna Rada (The Parliament of Ukraine)afterhisgoverningcoalitioncollapsed.

21. Bharat Vir Wanchoo, the Governor of Goaresigned. He is the fifth Governor to resign inlast one month after M K Narayanan (WestBengal),BLJoshi(UttarPradesh),ShekharDutt(Chhattisgarh)andAshwaniKumar(Nagaland).

22. MK Narayanan, the Governor of West Bengaltendered his resignation. Narayanan’sresignation came within a week after beingquestionedbytheCBIasawitnessinconnectionwith its probe into 3600‐crore rupees VVIPchopper from Anglo‐Italian firmAgustaWestland.

23. DickWagner, the famous rockguitarist ofAliceCooperdied.

24. Madhukar Singh, an eminent Hindi litterateurdied.

25. Sushilarani Patel, the renowned classical singerofIndiadied.

26. VeteranJournalistSundaramSankarandied.27. AmericanactorJamesGarnerdied.

28. NadineGordimer,theSouthAfricanNobelPrize‐winningauthor,died.

29. Giriraj Kishore, the senior Vishwa HinduParishad(VHP)leaderdied.

30. Veteranactress,ZohraSehgaldied.31. Eduard Shevardnadze, the former President of

Georgiadied.32. Alfredo Di Stefano, the legend of Real Madrid

FootballClub,died.33. Granville Austin, the eminent scholar of the

IndianConstitutiondied.34. Former Haitian president Leslie Francois

Manigatdied.35. Supreme Court allowed Sahara Chief Subrata

Roy touse the conference roomofTihar jail tonegotiate the sale his offshore and domesticpropertieswithprospectivebuyers.

36. NicolasSarkozy, the formerPresidentofFrancewas charged with corruption and influencepeddling.

37. Sujit Choudhry became the first Indian‐American dean of the Berkeley Law School,UniversityofCalifornia.

38. The United States named a mountain inAntarctica as Mt. Sinha to honour an eminentIndian‐Americanscientist,AkhouriSinha.

39. Business20(B20)AustraliaSummitwasheldinSydney, Australia. At the Summit, the businessleaders of G20 countries issued a blueprint forG20 leaders to boost economic and job growthandmakeglobaleconomymoreresilienttodealwithfutureshocks.

40. 7thIndia‐Brazil‐SouthAfrica(IBSA)summitwillbeheldinNewDelhi,Indiain2015.Apartfromthis, it was also agreed to hold India AfricaForummeetinNewDelhiinDecember2014.

41. President of Sierra Leone Ernest Bai Koromadeclared a public health emergency in SierraLeone to curb the deadly Ebola outbreak. Theoutbreak is now the largest recorded in worldhistory,andhasinfectedthreeAfricancapitalsofMonrovia (Liberia), Freetown (Sierra Leone)and Conakry (Guinea) with internationalairports.

42. TheUnitedNationlaunchedthe2014revisionofthe World Urbanisation Prospects report. The


report said that at present, 54 percent of theworld's population lives in urban areas, whichwill have an additional 2.5 billion people inurbanareasby2050.Tokyowasrankedat firstposition as populous cities in 2014 with 38million inhabitants. Delhi with 25 millionpopulationwasrankedat2ndposition.Shanghaiwith 23 million was placed at the at the thirdposition. Mexico City, Mumbai and Sao Paulo,eachwitharound21millioninhabitantsin2014wererankedatfourthposition.

43. India State of Forest Report (ISFR) 2013 wasreleased. The report said that total forest andtree cover of the country is 87.92 millionhectare,which turns up to be 24.01 percent ofthe geographical area of India.States withmaximum increase in forest cover are WestBengal,Odisha,Kerala.StateswithLargestforestcover areMadhya Pradesh, Arunachal Pradesh.Mizoram in terms of percentage 90.38 percenthadhighestforestcover.

44. Heavy downpour caused landslide in MalinVillage of Ambegaon Taluka killing 41 peoples.Thevillageissome70kilometersfromPune.

45. 7thBRICSSummitwillbeheldinRussiancityofUfain2015..

46. 46 Indian Nurses and 137 others came toIndiafrom Erbil in Kurdistan, Iraq.At presentIraq isunder theattackofISIL (IslamicStateofIraq and the Levant)jihadist militants. Theyabducted the nurses against their will from ahospital in themilitant‐controlled city of TikritinIraq.

47. The World on 29 July 2014 observed theInternationalTigerDay.

48. World Hepatitis Day was observed across theworldon28July2014.

49. The15thanniversaryofKargilVijayDiwaswascelebrated in India on26 July 2014. Theday iscelebratedinthehonourofwarheroesofKargileveryyear.

50. WorldPopulationDaywasobserved across theworld on 11 July 2014. The theme of WorldPopulation Day 2014 was Investing in YoungPeople.

51. India on 1 July 2014 observed the NationalDoctors’ Day. The day is observed to honourlegendary physician, Dr Bidhan Chandra Roywhose birth and death anniversary falls on thesameday.

52. Indian Air Force received its sixth C‐17

GlobemasterIIIaircraft.53. India's first indigenous anti‐submarinewarship

(ASW) Indian Naval Ship (INS) Kamorta washandedovertotheIndianNavy.

54. Indian Naval Ship (INS) Kuthar Warship wasdamagedinamishap.

55. Indiasuccessfullytest‐firedanadvancedversionofthe290‐kmrangeBrahMossupersoniccruisemissilefromChandipur‐on‐SeaoffOdishacoast.

56. Union government decided to appoint SureshPrabhu Committee to review the gas pricingformula.TheUnionCabineton25June2014haddeferred the implementation of the CRangarajan Committee's pricing formula till 30September 2014 for conducting acomprehensivereviewofthewholeissue.

57. TheUnionCivilAviationMinistryon7July2014constituted an Inter‐Ministerial Group (IMG) toexamine the maximum potential of the GPSAided Augmented Navigation (GAGAN) system.TheIMGwillbeheadedbyAshokLavasa.

58. One Life is Not Enough: An AutobiographywrittenbyKunwarNatwarSinghwaspublishedon1August2014.

59. TheLivesofOthersauthoredbyNeelMukherjeewasshortlistedforManBookerPrize2014.NeelMukherjee is a Kolkata‐born British Indianwriter.

60. TheVijayMallyaStorywrittenbyKGiriprakashwas published by Penguin Books Limited in2014.

61. A coffee‐table book titled First Citizen: PranabMukherjee in Rashtrapati Bhavanwas releasedon 2 July 2014 at a function in RashtrapatiBhavan, New Delhi. The book’s first copy was


receivedbyPranabMukherjee, thePresidentofIndia.

62. Muzaffar Ali, a noted filmmaker of India wasselected for Rajiv Gandhi National SadbhavanaAward.

63. The IndianContingentwon fivemedals in45thInternationalPhysicsOlympiad held inAstana,Kazakhstan. India won 2 gold medals and 3silvermedalsintheOlympiad.

64. Environmentalist and social activist ChandiPrasadBhattwasawardedwith theprestigiousGandhiPeaceprizefor2013.

65. Four India‐born Americans were honoured onthe eve of US Independence Day. The Indian‐Americans honouredwereMicrosoft Corp chiefexecutive Satya Nadella, Comedian and actorAasif Mandvi, Carnegie Mellon UniversitypresidentSubraSureshandformerpresidentoftheUniversityofWestGeorgia,BeheruzSethna.

66. ShahRukhKhanwasconferredwithtopFrenchcivilian award Knight of the Legion of Honor.Shahrukh Khan is the second Bollywood actorafter Amitabh Bachchan to be honoured withKnightoftheLegionofHonour.

67. MalalaYousafzai, theyoungPakistanieducationadvocatewon the2014 LibertyMedal givenbytheNationalConstitutionCentreinPhiladelphiainPennsylvania.

68. The classical music reality show ofDoordarshanNaad Bhed‐The Mystery ofSoundwillbefeaturedinLimcaBookofRecords.The reality show will be featured underTelevisionChapterinLimcaBookofRecordsforbeing the first ever National level reality showonClassicalMusic.

69. The third edition of Ladakh International FilmFestival (LIFF) was held in Leh, Jammu andKashmir.

70. The annual Lord JagannathRath Yatra (ChariotFestival) began on 29 June 2014 at Puri ofOdisha.

71. Air Algerie plane BoeingMD‐83went missingoverGaoinMaliinAfricaon24July2014.

72. MalaysiaAirlinesBoeing777plane,MH‐17,wasshot down overwar‐torn eastern Ukraine neartheRussianborderon17July2014.MH‐17was

flying from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpurcarrying283passengersand15crewmembers.The plane might have been shot down by theterroristsbyBuksurface‐to‐airmissilesystem.

73. Prime Minister of India, Narendra Modilaunched a web platform – MyGov.nic.in. Theplatform has been created to facilitate CitizenEngagementinGoodGovernance.

74. The Union Ministry of Women and ChildDevelopment launched a Logo DesignCompetition for the Beti Bachao Beti PadhaoCampaign.

75. President Pranab Mukherjee on 1 July 2014joined Twitter with the handle ‐@RashtrapatiBhvn.He is the first servingpresidentofIndiatojoinTwitter.

76. FirstAidPostwaslaunchedatShastriBhawaninNewDelhi.Thepostwaslaunchedtoexpandthenetworkofhealthcaretoitsbeneficiaries.

77. TheCompetitionCommissionof India (CCI)hasimposed Rs.1 crore penalty on three entities,including Thomas Cook and Sterling HolidayResorts, for carrying out certain marketpurchases related to their deal before seekingthefairtradewatchdog’sapproval.


78. China has invited India to participate in theAsianInfrastructureInvestmentBank.

79. India’s Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle C‐23successfullyput five foreign satellites intoorbitin the presence of Prime Minister NarendraModi at the Indian Space ResearchOrganisation’s spaceport in Sriharikota. ISROlaunched the 714‐kg French earth observationsatellite SPOT‐7, the 14‐kg German AISAT, thetwo 15‐kg Canadian NLS7.1 (CAN‐X4) andNLS7.2 (CAN‐X5) and the 7‐kg SingaporeVELOX‐1. PrimeMinister NarendraModi askedIndia’s space community to take up “thechallengeof developing a Saarc satellite”whichcanbededicatedto“ourneighbourhood,asagiftfromIndia”.

80. China has for the first time formally agreed toallow Indian hydrological experts to conductstudytoursinTibettomonitortheflowsontheupperreachesoftheBrahmaputra,accordingtoanewagreementsignedduringthevisitofVice‐President Hamid Ansari. The MoU on theBrahmaputra was among three agreementssignedasVice‐PresidentHamidAnsariheldtalkswith his counterpart Li Yuanchao. Bothcountrieshavealso formaliseda framework forsetting up China‐dedicated infrastructure parksinIndiaandforthe first‐evertrainingexchangeprogramme for officials of both countries,between the Lal Bahadur Shastri NationalAcademy of Administration (LBSNAA),Mussoorie, and the China Executive LeadershipAcademy(CELAP)inShanghai.

81. TheNanavatiCommissionofInquiryprobingthe2002 post‐Godhra riots received a two‐monthextensionbeyonditsexpirydate.

82. Kaafiron ki Namaaz, a movie by debutantdirector Ram Ramesh Sharma and producerBhargav Saikaiwon four awards, including onefor the best feature film at the third LadakhInternationalFilmFestival.

83. India’s ruling Bharatiya Janata Party wasincluded in a top‐secret list of six non‐U.S.politicalpartiesworldwidethattheU.S.NationalSecurity Agency received official permission tocovertly spyupon, according to the latest trove

of data released to the media by EdwardSnowden,formerNSAcontractor‐turnedfugitivewhistleblower.

84. The Rajasthan government declared the camelastheStateanimal.

85. Inararehonour,theU.S.hasnamedamountainin Antarctica after eminent Indian‐Americanscientist Akhouri A. Sinha, whose pioneeringbiological research expedition provided vitaldataaboutanimalpopulations.

86. The National Democratic Alliance governmenthas appointed the former Cabinet Minister,SureshPrabhu,astheheadofahigh‐levelpanelon power revamp — “Advisory Group forIntegrated Development of Power, Coal andRenewableEnergy.”

87. The European Court of Human Rights upheldFrance’scontroversialburqaban.

88. Wal‐Mart India launched itsonlineplatform formembersofBestPriceModernWholesalestoresinHyderabadandLucknow.

89. The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs(CCEA) approved the inclusion of onion andpotatounderthepurviewofstockholdinglimitsundertheEssentialCommoditiesAct,1955.

90. PrimeMinisterNarendraModiisthethirdmostfollowed world leader on Twitter, next only toU.S. PresidentBarackObama and thePope.Mr.Modi, who overtook Indonesian President S.B.Yudhoyono.

91. MorethanayearafteractorJiahKhanwasfoundhangingatherresidenceinthecity,theBombayHigh Court transferred the case to the CentralBureauofInvestigation(CBI).

92. The government re‐appointed Harun RashidKhan as the Deputy Governor of the ReserveBankof India, fora furtherperiodof twoyearswitheffectfromJuly4.

93. The Enforcement Directorate has registered amoney launderingcaseagainstretiredAirChiefMarshalS.P.Tyagiinconnectionwiththeallegedpayment of over €21.4 million by AgustaWestland.

94. UnionHealthMinister Harsh Vardhanwrote toChief Ministers of all States (except Rajasthan)and Lt. Governors andAdministrators of Union


Territories toconsider levyingaVATofat least50 per cent on all tobacco products, includingbidis.

95. Universal Sompo General Insurance Companyhas entered into a tie with Dena Bank to offerloansecureinsurancepolicytothebank’sretailand SME (small and medium enterprise)customers. Universal Sompo is a joint venturebetweenAllahabadBank,IndianOverseasBank,KarnatakaBank,DaburInvestmentsandSompoJapanInsuranceInc.

96. Parliamentary Affairs Minister M. VenkaiahNaidu said the issue of granting Leader of theOpposition (LoP) status to the Congress wasbeforetheLokSabhaSpeaker.

97. The Supreme Court held that fatwas issued byMuslim shariat courts (Dar‐ul‐Qazas) do nothave legal sanctity and cannot be enforced ifthey infringed on the fundamental rights of anindividual.

98. NASA has fitted a 17‐tonne telescope with aneffective diameter of eight feet on a modifiedBoeing747jetlinerthattheU.S.spaceagencyisusingasaflyingobservatorytostudystars.

99. The government plans to increase the foreigndirect investment in the insurance sector to 49percentwithariderthatthevotingrightsoftheoverseas partner will remain capped at 26 percent.

100. Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI)hasnotifiedthattheminimumbroadbandspeedhas been raised to 512 kilo bytes per second(kbps)fromtheearlier256kbps.

101. TheRBIGovernorhasconveyedhisapprovaltothe Andhra Pradesh Government’s request forreschedulingofcroploans.

102. Railways made it clear that it would continuewith the fuel adjustment component (FAC) torevisepassengerfareseverysixmonths.

103. AstatueofMahatmaGandhiwouldbe installedin Parliament Square in London by early nextyear.

104. The much‐awaited verdict on the disputeregarding the delimitation of the maritimeboundary between India and Bangladesh wasdelivered, with a United Nations tribunal

awarding Bangladesh 19,467 sq. km of the25,602sq.kmseaareaoftheBayofBengal.

105. Peoplecannowbookacoachorevenatrainonthe Internet as part of Railways’ efforts toexpandthescopeofonlinebooking.

106. According to a recent report of the NationalCrime Records Bureau Maharashtra recordedhighestnumberofsuicidesin2013.

107. Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley tabled theEconomic Survey 2013‐14 in Parliament. ItprojectsthattheGDPgrowththisfiscalyearwillbeintherangeof5.4to5.9percent.

108. AmitShahwasnamedthenextBJPpresident.109. Maharashtra Governor K. Sankaranarayan

approved theordinancegrantingreservation toMaratha and Muslim communities inMaharashtra. Marathas will get a 16 per centquotaandMuslims fivepercent ingovernmentjobsandeducationalinstitutions.

110. Senior Advocate Pinky Anand has beenappointedAdditionalSolicitor‐General.

111. The Securities and Exchange Board of Indiaimposeda fineofRs.1.03croreonApolloTyresfor allegedly failing to comply with buybackregulations.

112. TopU.S.diplomatBillBurnsmetPrimeMinisterNarendraModitodeliverU.S.PresidentObama’sinvitationforhimtovisitWashingtonattheendofSeptember,whenheattendstheU.N.GeneralAssembly.

113. Germany expelled the U.S. intelligence stationchief in Berlin over alleged spying byWashington.

114. Intensifying its offensive, Israeli jets hit morethan780targetsintheHamas‐ruledGazaStrip.

115. Finance Minister Arun Jaitley proposed hikingthe foreigndirect investment limit in insuranceanddefencesectorsto49percent.

116. Indianengineersare toiling intheHimalayastobuildtheworld’stallestrailwaybridgewhichisexpected to be 35 metres taller than the EiffelTower when completed by 2016. The arch‐


shapedsteelstructureisbeingconstructedoverthe Chenab River to link sections of thespectacular mountainous region of India'snorthern JammuandKashmir state. Thebridgeis expected to be 359 metres high whencompleted — surpassing the world’s currenttallestrailwaybridgeovertheBeipanjiangRiverin China's Guizhou province, which stands at275metreshigh.

117. If all goes well, a U.S. couple may become the

first humans to travel to Mars by as early as2021. Founders of an Arizona‐based privatespace company called Paragon SpaceDevelopmentCorporation,TaberMacCallumandhiswife JanePoynterareplanninga round‐tripflybyoftheRedplanetforthemselves.

118. Air India formally became a member of StarAlliance, a conglomeration of 26 overseasairlines.

119. IndiaandSriLankareiteratedtheircommitmentto finding a long‐term solution to the issue ofIndian fishermen running into troublewith theSri Lankanauthorities in the IndianOcean.Theissue figured prominently in discussionsbetween External Affairs Minister SushmaSwaraj and her Sri Lankan counterpart, G.L.Peiris, who concluded his three‐day visit toIndia.

120. Delhi isnow theworld’s secondmostpopulouscitywith25million inhabitants.Tokyoremainsthe world’s largest city with 38 millioninhabitants. Among the other most populouscities,Mumbaiisinthetopsixwithapopulationof21million.

121. ElectionCommissionhasaskedseniorCongressparliamentarian and the former MaharashtraChiefMinisterAshokChavan, toexplainwhyheshouldnotbedisqualifiedunderSection10Aofthe Representation of the People Act in a casepertainingto‘paidnews.’

122. The government has imposed an additionalpenalty of $579 million (Rs. 3,475 crore) on

Reliance Industries for producing less than thetargeted natural gas from its KG‐D6 block in2013‐14.

123. China’s President Xi Jinping invited PrimeMinister Narendra Modi to visit China inNovember.Mr.XisaidhewaslookingforwardtohisSeptembervisittoIndia,andalsowelcomedMr. Modi to visit China in November whenBeijingwillhosttheAPECleaders’meeting.

124. The Securities and Exchange Board of India(SEBI) barred erstwhile Satyam ComputerServices chairman B. Ramalinga Raju and itsformertopofficialsfromaccessingthesecuritiesmarketfor14years,withimmediateeffect.

125. A World Trade Organisation (WTO) DisputePanel has ruled that the imposition ofCountervailingDuty (CVD)by theUnitedStatesDepartment of Commerce (US DOC) on India’sexportsofhot‐rolledcarbonsteelflatproductsisinconsistentwiththelawonsubsidies.

126. India and Russia have commenced navalmanoeuvresintheSeaofJapan.

127. A five‐judgeConstitutionBenchof theSupremeCourt will take up for consideration a petitionseekingtoallowapersonsufferingfromchronicterminal diseases and likely to go into apermanent vegetative state to refuse treatmentandpavethewayfortheirdeath.

128. Former U.S. President Bill Clinton arrived inJaipur on a three‐day tour of India which willtakehimtoLucknowaswell.

129. Global AIDS‐related deaths and new HIVinfectionshavefallenbyoverathirdinadecade,raising hopes of beating the killer disease by2030,theUnitedNationshassaid.

130. The government cleared 19 foreign directinvestment (FDI) proposals worth Rs.2,326.72crore. The proposals include those from WaltDisneyCompanyandReckittBenckiserIndia.

131. PrimeMinisterNarendraModi, duringhisbriefstopover in Frankfurt on his way back fromBrazil, called up German Chancellor AngelaMerkel and extended greetings on her 60thbirthday, congratulated Germany for theWorldCup win and exchanged invitations for abilateralsummitnextyear.


132. Indiawill host the7th IBSA (India‐Brazil‐SouthAfrica)summitin2015.

133. RBIhassetaminimumpaid‐upcapitalofRs.100

croreforthosewhowishtosetuppaymentsandsmallbanks.RBIhassaidthatthepromoterswillhave to have an initial minimum capital of atleast 40 per cent. According to the draftguidelines, existing authorised non‐bank pre‐paid instrument issuers (PPIs), non‐bankingfinance companies (NBFCs), corporate BCs(business correspondents), mobile telephonecompanies,supermarketchains,companies,realsector co‐operatives and public sector entitiesareeligibleforsettingupapaymentsbank.Theguidelines allow even banks to take equitypositioninapaymentsbankaspermittedundertheBankingRegulationAct,1949.Theactivitiesof a payments bank will be restricted toacceptanceofdemanddeposits,andprovisionofpaymentsandremittancesservices.Apaymentsbank, says the RBI, will further the cause offinancial inclusion by providing small savingsaccountsandpaymentsandremittanceservicesto migrant labour workforce, low‐incomehouseholds, small businesses and other

unorganised entities. The idea is to facilitatehigh volume and low value transactions in asecure and technology‐driven environment. Apayments bank cannot set up subsidiaries toundertake non‐banking financial activities. Thepaymentsbank,however,hastocomplywiththeSLR (statutory liquidity ratio) and CRR (cashreserveratio)requirements.ThePaymentsBankshallberequiredtomaintainaminimumcapitaladequacyratioof15percentofitsriskweightedassets(RWA)onacontinuousbasis.TheRBIhasmade it clear that “a payments bank shouldensure widespread network of access pointsparticularly to remote areas, either throughtheir own branch network or BCs or throughnetworkprovidedbyothers.’’

134. Small bank eligibility ‐ Residentindividuals/professionals with ten years ofexperience in banking and finance, companiesand societies are eligible to set up small banks.Existingnon‐bankingfinancecompanies,micro‐finance institutions, and local area banks canalso convert themselves into small banks aftercomplying with the requisite legal andregulatoryrequirements.Theareaofoperationsofthesmallbankwillberestrictedtocontiguousdistricts in a homogenous cluster ofStates/Union Territories so that the bank hasthe ‘local feel’ and culture. However, ifconsidered necessary, the bankwill be allowedto expand its area of operations beyondcontiguous districts in one ormore Stateswithreasonable geographical proximity. “Its branchexpansion plan for the initial three years willneedpriorapprovalofRBIafterwhich,basedonexperience, the RBI may consider relaxing thiscondition,’’ the guidelines say. The small bankshall primarily undertake basic bankingactivities of acceptance of deposits and lendingto small farmers, small businesses, micro andsmall industries and unorganised sectorentities,’’ say the guidelines. A small bank alsocannot set up subsidiaries to undertake non‐banking financial services activities, and itspromotershavetoring‐fencetheirlikeactivities.A small bank has to comply with the CRR and


SLR requirements. ThePaymentsBank shall berequired to maintain a minimum capitaladequacyratioof15percentofitsriskweightedassets(RWA)onacontinuousbasis.AndRBIhasfixed an upper limit for loan/investmentexposure to an individual or group at 15 percentofitscapitalfunds.Also,asmallbankhastocomplywiththeprioritysectorlendingtargets.

135. A bill to remove legal hurdles in theappointment of former TRAI chief NripendraMisra as Principal Secretary to the PrimeMinisterhasnowbecomeanActwithPresidentPranabMukherjeegivinghisassent.

136. The Narendra Modi Government is unlikely torescind the foreign direct investment (FDI)policy formulti‐brand retail that the Congress‐ledUnitedProgressiveAlliancegovernmenthadnotified.

137. Railwayshas cleareddecks for theupgradationof five stations through commercialdevelopment. The five stations are Chandigarh,Anand Vihar, Bijwasan (both at Delhi),Habibganj (Bhopal) and Shivaji Nagar (Pune).The Railways had formed the Indian RailwayStations Development Corporation (IRSDC) tomodernise and upgrade passenger amenities atstationsbyraisingfinancesthroughcommercialdevelopment of Railway land and air space atthesestations.

138. Manila‐based Asian Development Bank hasupgraded India’s economic growth forecast to6.3 per cent in 2015‐16 on hopes of speedyreformprocess.

139. Forex reserves rose to $317.036 billion in theweektoJuly11,duetoriseincurrencyassets.

140. TheIndiangovernmentisplanningtoopenupafirsteverYogaresourcecentreinChina.

141. International pop star Shakira is officially themost popular person on Facebook with over a100million‘likes’,themostforanypublicfigure.

142. TheDefenceMinistryhasclearedprojectsworthRs. 21,000 crore, including replacement of 56Avro transport planes, demonstrating thegovernment’s intent to fast‐track military

acquisitions with an eye on promoting privatesectorinvestmentintheDefencesector.

143. Close on the heels of the recently concluded$400‐billion mega gas pipeline deal betweenRussia and China,Moscowwants towork on apipeline to India “through the Himalayas” thatcouldbecomethe“biggest‐everenergyprojectinhistory,” Russian Ambassador AlexanderKadakintold.

144. ThePakistangovernmenthasdecidedtorelease

57 Indian fishing boats as a goodwill gestureafterthereleaseof150IndianfishermeninMay.

145. The recent decision of the Genetic EngineeringAppraisalCommittee(GEAC)toallowfieldtrialsofGMrice,mustard,cotton,chickpeaandbrinjalhas been met with strong opposition fromfarmers’groupsandenvironmentalactivists.

146. The United Nations Security Councilunanimously passed a resolution calling forinternational investigators to have unfetteredaccess to the crash site of Malaysian AirlinesFlight17inUkraine.

147. The Civil Aviation Ministry has issued NoObjection Certificates (NOCs) to six entitieswhoseapplicationstostartairlinesinIndiawerepending for long.Thesesix—AirOne,PremierAir, Zexus Air (all national), Turbo Megha, AirCarnivalandZavAirways(allregional)—areinaddition to the Tata‐Singapore Airlines jointventure that is likely tostartoperationsby thisyear‐end.Atpresent, Indiahaseightairlines—Air India, Jet Airways, Jet Lite, IndiGo, SpiceJet,GoAir,AirCostaandAirAsiaIndia.

148. India,theUnitedStatesandJapanareembarkingon joint navalmanoeuvres in the Pacific OceanaspartoftheMalabarseriesofexercises.

149. The proposed India‐Pakistan pipeline, throughwhich India plans to supply natural gas toPakistan,may be completedwithin a year. Thepipeline,beingputinplacebytheGasAuthorityof India Ltd. The pipelinewill start at Dahej inGujarat, pass through Vijaipur in Madhya


Pradesh, Dadri in Uttar Pradesh, Bawana inDelhibeforereachingNangalinPunjab.

150. TheCabinetCommitteeonEconomicAffairshasapproved of new powers for the SEBI to crackdown on Ponzi schemes and illegal depositschemessuchaschitfunds.

151. The Union Human Resource DevelopmentMinistry has advised all States and UnionTerritories (UTs), barring Jammu and Kashmir,to take appropriate action for the inclusion of“third gender’’ children among socially andeducationallybackwardclassesforadmissionineducationalinstitutionsundertheSarvaShikshaAbhiyan.

152. According to the 2014 UNDP Human

DevelopmentReportwithanHDIvalueof0.586outofamaximumpossible1,Indiais135thoutof187countries.

153. KurdishpoliticianFuadMasumbecamethenewPresident of Iraq in a step towards forming anewgovernment.

154. The Central Bank of Sri Lanka (CBSL) and theReserve Bank of India (RBI) signed anagreement, enabling the RBI to access the SriLankan government securities market, up to amaximumvalueof$500million.

155. Despite India’s objections to the UN observermission at the Line of Control – UNMOGIP,visiting UN peacekeeping chief Hervé Ladsousmade it clear that themissionwould remain inIndia until theUN Security Council removes itsmandate,establishedin1948afterthefirstwaroverKashmir.

156. TheReserveBankof India imposedamonetarypenalty on 12 banks for violating central bankrules in the case of Deccan Chronicle Holdings.ThecentralbankhasimposedapenaltyofRs.40lakhon ICICIBankandRs.15 lakheachonAxisBankandIDBIBank.

157. The Central Bureau of Investigation hasinstituted a preliminary enquiry (PE) againstGoogle for purported violations committed

while organisingMapathon 2013, a nationwidecompetition during which security‐sensitiveinstallations were allegedly mapped withoutpriorpermission.

158. Anil Ambani Group firmReliance Power said ithadsignedaninitialagreementtoacquireallthethree hydroelectric power plants of JaiprakashAssociatesLtd.

159. Minister for Women and Child DevelopmentManeka Gandhi has announced that NirbhayaCentres or One‐Stop Crisis Centres (OSCC) willbe set up in all districts. Each will haveparamedical staff, ambulance service, a retiredpoliceofficer tohelp lodge theFIR,counsellors,lawyers, short‐stay shelter with food andclothing,andvideoconferencingfacility.

160. The CBI arrested Chairman‐cum‐ManagingDirector of Sydicate Bank, S K Jain and fiveothersforallegedlytakingbribeofRs50lakhforenhancementofcredit limit tosomecompaniesbypassingrulesandregulations.

161. NDA government has mooted a proposal tomerge two financial institutions aimed atwomen's empowerment. Set up in the finalmonths of the Congress‐led UPA government,theBharatiyaMahilaBank(BMB)withaninitialcorpus of Rs 1,000 crores, and the RashtriyaMahilaKosh(RMK),whichwasestablishedwayback in1993toprovidemicro‐loanstowomen,may be merged, the Minister for Women andChildDevelopmentManekaGandhisaid.

162. The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) relaxed thelimitofloanthatbankscansanctionagainstthepledging of gold ornaments and jewellery. OnDecember30,bankshad restricted the loansofuptoRs1lakhagainstpledgeofgoldornamentsandjewellery.

163. RBI has started scrutinising credentials ofcompanies suspected of illegally raisingmoneyfrompublicasNBFCs.

164. The Reserve Bank has allowed raising foreigninvestment limit under portfolio investment inprivate sector Kotak Mahindra Bank to 40 percent.

165. Infrastructurebondsissuedbybankswillhaveaminimum maturity period of seven years and


will not be considered part of the their netdemand and time liabilities (NDTL), RBI said.RBI also gave affordable housing aninfrastructure status and laid down guidelinesfor issuance of long‐term bonds by banks forfinancing infrastructure project loans andaffordable housing and exempted such bondsfromregulatoryrulessuchascashreserveratio(CRR),statuaryliquidityratioandprioritysectorlending.

166. Thegovernmentwillretainamajorityholdinginthe public sector banks (PSBs), but will allowthem to raisemoney by selling shares to smallinvestors. The PSBs need a capital infusion ofR2.4 lakh crore by 2018 to meet the Basel‐IIIrequirements.

167. The European Banking Authority (EBA) said ithad identified more than 70 risks related totrading in virtual currencies, including theirvulnerability to crime and money laundering.Virtual currencies,most famously Bitcoin, havecome under increasing scrutiny by financialregulators as their popularity has grown.Launched in 2009 by a mysterious computerguru,Bitcoinisaformofcryptography‐basede‐moneythatoffersalargelyanonymouspaymentsystemandcanbestoredeithervirtuallyoronauser'sharddrive.

168. State Bank of India has launched six digitalbranches across the country, as part of apioneering program to offer next generationbanking solutions to India's growing mobilephone and internet‐savvy customer base. Itsnew branches, branded as sbiINTOUCH, areequipped with interactive wall and tabledisplays. The branches are located in majormetropolitan areas across India, includingMumbai, Delhi, Bengaluru, Chennai andAhmedabad.

169. TheRBIhassaidIndiaandtheUShaveagreedtoimplement a foreign tax compliance act(FATCA)and asked banks and financialinstitutionstoregisterbythisyear‐endtoreportaccountsandassetsheldbyUScitizens.

170. Switzerland have come across a significantquantum of fake Indian rupee notes in their

country ‐‐ the third highest for any foreigncurrencyafterEuroandtheUSdollar.

171. In a move that may discourage firms fromdefaultingonbankloans,theSupremeCourthasallowed lenders to publish names andphotographs ofwilful defaulters in newspapersinthelargerpublicinterest.

172. ICICI Bank in associationwithDelhiMetroRailCorporation (DMRC) launched co‐branded cardwith host of benefits for metro riders. UnifareCard combines the benefits of a debit/creditcard along with a Delhi Metro Smart Card andhas the added facility of auto top‐up of farebalance.

Documents

Gk Power Capsule July 2014