8th November Current Affairs: Appointments 1. Goa chief minister Laxmikant Parsekar met BJP patriarch Atal Bihari Vajpayee in New Delhi to seek his blessings before beginning his new innings. I had not got any opportunity to meet Vajpayeeji in the five years. It was my wish to take his blessings, Parsekar said, who met the veteran leader in New Delhi. • Parsekar said that he visited Vajpayee for a brief time. The Goa Chief Minister also met party president Amit Shah during his two-day long Delhi visit. Awards 1. Indian-origin politician Keith Vaz named as Labour MP of the Year • Indian-origin British politician Nigel Keith Anthony Standish Vaz known as Keith Vaz was named as the Labour MP of the year 2014. • He was choosen for this award for his valuable work for underrepresented, deprived and minority sections of the country. • Speaker of the house John Bercow announced the Patchwork Foundation MPs of the Year 2014 at Speakers House. • The awards were announced for those who have represented and worked with underrepresented, deprived and minority communities across the country. Banking 1. SBI, HDFC, Axis has announced to charge Rs 20 after 3rd transactions • Finally the three leading banks of the country have decided to charge a sum of Rs 20 after the free transactions in Metro cities. SBI, Axis, HDFC banks have capped the free transactions to three in the six metro cities. • The customers in Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata, Chennai, Bangalore, Hyderabad would be required to pay Rs 20 from the 4th transactions onwards. RBI has announced to cap the free transactions to three in the metro cities but the banks were allowed to limit the free transactions accordingly. • The three banks have decided to go with the Apex bank and implement the rule from 1st December onwards. Books - Writers 1. Batting legend Sachin Tendulkars autobiography Playing It My Way has slashed its way into record books with nearly 200,000 copies being sold within two days of its release. • This book overtook Steve Jobs’ biography (by Waster Isaacson) as the bestselling book in India. Deaths 1. Havells India Limited chairman Qimat Rai Gupta passed away • The electrical equipment maker Havells India Limited group chairman Qimat Rai Gupta passed away. He was 77. • Qimat Rai Gupta started Havells India Limited in 1971 and transformed it to a multinational company with operations across 51 countries. • Guptas big moment came in 2007 when Havells acquired Europe headquartered Sylvania Lighting thus registering Havells amongst top 4 lighting companies in the world. Economy 1. India and Saudi Arabia agreed to cooperate in hydrocarbon sector • Indian delegation that visited Riyadh for bilateral consultations comprised of Dharmendra Pradhan (as head), senior government officials and Chairmen of IOCL, HPCL and GAIL. • After the consultations, India invited Saudi companies including ARAMCO to participate and invest in crude oil storage facilities and down-stream industries in India. • Union Petroleum Minister : Dharmendra Pradhan 2. Union Cabinet approved proposal to amend FDI policy in “construction and real estate sector” Proposals: • The proposal is the minimum capital requirement is brought down from 10 million US dollar to 5 million US dollar. • In case of development of serviced plots, the condition of minimum land of 10 hectares has been completely removed. • In case of development of trunk infrastructure, though the lock in period has not reduced from 3-year lock-in period but permitted foreign investors to investors to exit on project completion or 3 years from the date of final investment. Present status • Earlier in 2005, although 100 percent foreign direct investment was allowed in townships, housing and built-up infrastructure and construction developments, the government imposed certain conditions. • After the relaxation, the FDI inflows in the construction sector witnessed a steady rise during 2006-07 but have stared declining in 2009-10. • The construction sector received FDI worth 23.75 billion US dollar or 10 percent of the total FDI attracted by India during the period between from 2000 to 2014. • The investment in construction and real estate sector has a multiplier effect on the economy by way of infrastructure creation and employment generation which will also help to create demand for products of related industries like cement and steel. International 1. The People’s Front Party, led by Ukrainian Prime Minister Arseny Yatsenyuk won the country’s parliamentary election, the Central Election Commission (CEC) said .The People’s Front garnered 22.14 per cent of the votes while the political bloc that supports Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko came second, with 21.81 percent of the votes, Xinhua reported citing CEC. • The Samopomich party, headed by Lviv Mayor Andriy Sadovyi, ranked third with 10.97 percent of the votes.The eighth Ukrainian parliamentary election was held October 26. A total of 29 political parties and some 1,401 candidates contested for the 423 seats. 2. South Carolina’s governor Nikki Haley is to visit India next week to bring investment and promote her state as a tourist destination in her parents’ native country.During the 10-day trip beginning November 11, Ms. Haley and her delegation are scheduled to have as many as 90 meetings in New Delhi, Hyderabad, Amritsar, Mumbai and Chennai.“Next week, the State of South Carolina is launching our first trade and investment mission to India,” Secretary of Commerce Bobby Hitt said. • The delegation includes Commerce personnel, the state’s Department of Parks, Recreation and Tourism, private-sector economic development allies and several South Carolina-based companies looking to make export connections, he said. National 1. Suzlon Energy put into operation the world’s tallest hybrid wind generator turbine in Kucth region of Gujarat. • The 120-metre hybrid turbine, inaugurated by Gujarat Chief Minister Anandiben Patel, had been designed and developed by local engineers. This tower is taller by 40 metres than conventional wind turbine towers. • This new turbine will generate 12-15 per cent more energy, with this new turbine and the installed wind energy capacity at the Kutch region of Gujarat has gone up to 1,100 MW. • This makes it the Asia’s biggest wind energy park at one location, according to Tulsi Tanti, Chairman and Managing Director of Suzlon. • This tower is ideal for low wind areas, and the potential is huge. In the next three years, this region will have 2,000 MW of wind energy capacity, and this will make it the world’s biggest wind energy park in one location. Mr. Tanti said, Six years ago they have signed a memorandum of understanding with the Gujarat Government to set up 2,000 MW capacity here. Out of that, we have now crossed 1,100 MW. 2. The Punjab Police arrested chief of Khalistan Liberation Force, Harminder Singh alias Mintoo and his close associate Gurpreet Singh Gopi from the Indira Gandhi International Airport in New Delhi, after they were extradited from Thailand. • While Mintoo was wanted in 10 terrorism related offences, Gopi had earlier been tasked with assassinations of Hindu leaders. • Their location, arrest and extradition were possible following a joint operation of the Punjab Police and Central agencies in co-ordination with Thai authorities. Through a similar operation the Punjab police had arrested Khalistan Tiger Force operative, Ramandeep Singh Goldy, who was traced in Malaysia. 3. Kerala is the right place for a start to India’s Blue Revolution, said Union Minister for Agriculture Radha Mohan Singh in Kochi. • The Blue Revolution envisages transformation of the fisheries sector, chiefly marine fisheries and the Centre had appointed a committee to review India’s marine fisheries policy. • The issues related to the makeover of the fisheries sector would be discussed before the next Union Budget. Persons in news 1. Indian-origin British politician Keith Vaz has been named as the Labour MP of the year 2014 for his valuable work for underrepresented, deprived and minority sections of the country. • I am honoured to have been chosen for this award. In my constituency of Leicester East, I work with individuals and groups of all backgrounds, faiths and races. For all groups to be better represented in Parliament, and the wider political process, is a positive and necessary aim in our multicultural society, Vaz said 2. US President Barack Obama has nominated one of his deputy national security adviser Tony Blinken to become the number two diplomat after John Kerry. • “I’ve known and worked closely with Tony for the past decade, starting when I joined the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, and he was its Staff Director. • For the past six years, I’ve relied on Tony in the White House, where I’ve come to have extraordinary respect for his knowledge, judgment, and inclusive approach to developing and implementing our foreign policy,” Mr. Obama said. Science & Technology 1. International Space Station a Look Inside • The International Space Station (ISS), appropriately named as it was designed and built by a collaboration of space programs from around the globe. Countries such as Japan, Russian, Canada, and select European countries along with the United States made financial contribution and have co ownership of the satellite. • The International Space Station spans the length and width of a football field and runs off fifty-two computers that control the stations vast operating systems. • The International Space Station (also known as ISS) is four times the size of the Russian Space Station Mir and five times that of the size of the United States Skylab facility. ISS comes in weighing in at a little over a million pounds and requires eight miles of electrical wiring to run power into it. • The international space craft orbits at an altitude of 220 miles above the Earth’s atmosphere. • Now the largest artificial body in orbit, it can often be seen with the naked eye from Earth • Orbit epoch : 1 November 2014 Seminars - meetings 1. India and Bhutan agreed to collaborate on the noble objectives of the establishment of Nalanda University in Bihar to develop the institution as an international centre of excellence. • The two sides signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) in this regard in Thimphu after President Pranab Mukherjee held talks with the Bhutanese King Jigme Khesar Namgyel Wangchuck. • According to the MoU, signed by foreign secretary Sujatha Singh and her Bhutanese counterpart Yeshey Dorji, the Nalanda University will be located at Rajgir in Bihar and will have the power to confer degrees, diplomas and certificates. The MoU states that the objectives and functions of Nalanda University includes the establishment of an international institution of learning that will bring together the brightest and the most dedicated students from all countries irrespective of gender, caste, creed, disability, ethnicity or socio-economic background. 2. The foreign ministers of China and Japan held talks ahead of a hoped-for meeting between Chinese President Xi Jinping and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe after more than two years of frozen high-level contacts. • Tensions between Asia’s two biggest economies over a set of uninhabited islands have sparked air and sea encounters that have raised regional security concerns, and this coming week’s Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit is seen a chance to dial down the friction.Japanese media reports quoted Japanese Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida as saying he asked his Chinese counterpart, Wang Yi, to arrange a meeting between Mr. Xi and Mr. Abe at the APEC summit. Kyodo News agency said a meeting had yet to be finalised.
Posted on: Wed, 12 Nov 2014 15:10:06 +0000
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