Current Affairs of 18 September 1.India, China sign 12 agreements during summit talks As many as 12 accord documents were exchanged between India and China following the talks between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chinese President Xi Jinping here on Thursday. The first agreement was on a new pilgrimage route to Kailash Mansarovar, while two accords were on trade development. One agreement was on audio-video co-production, and another was on cooperation in railways. An agreement was on drug administration, while yet another was on exchanges between cultural institutions. One MoU was also on the peaceful uses of outer space and another was on mutual administration and cooperation on customs matters. A sister city agreement was concluded between Shanghai and Mumbai. The other pacts include cooperation in railways, and customs. “It is important to have mutual trust and peace at the border to realise the full potential of the relationship between India and China, PM Modi said and added, “All issues including economic, political and security discussed over the last two days. We decided to step up engagement in diverse areas.” PM Modi further said, “We expressed concern over trade imbalance and requested Chinese leader Xi Jingpin to ease restrictions for investment by Indian companies in China. India and China has decided to initiate talks on civil nuclear cooperation. “Further China has committed investments worth USD 20 billion in India over the next five years. I conveyed concern over the incidents along the border. The boundary question has to be resolved by earliest and have said that clarity is needed on LAC,” said Narendra Modi. “We had fruitful talks which include all issues of mutual concern,” said Chinese President Xi Jinping and invited Modi to pay a visit to China early next year. “2015 to be observed as Visit India year in China, said the Chinese President and added “China and India to act as twin engines to promote growth and prosperity in the region. We have decided to respect each others concerns. China has determination to resolve the boundary issue” “Due to non-demarcation of the border, certain incidents take place but both countries have mechanisms to handle such incidents,” said Xi Jinping. 2. Boxer Manoj Kumar wins court battle to get Arjuna Award Incheon-bound boxer Manoj Kumar, who was forced to drag the sports ministry to the court after he was controversially denied the Arjuna Award, will finally get the prestigious award. Manoj, a quarterfinalist at the 2014 Commonwealth Games, was overlooked by the Kapil Dev-led Arjuna Awards selection committee, which mistakenly believed that he was involved in a doping case. Boxer Jai Bhagwan was selected ahead of Manoj. It is not pleasant at all that I had to approach the court but there was no option left for me. I am glad that I have been proved right and it has lifted my morale ahead for the Asian Games, said Manoj, who would be competing in the upcoming Asian Games in Incheon. I am thankful to my elder brother Rajesh, who fought alone for me against a system which was bent on proving us wrong. It is sad that I had to fight like this for something that was rightfully mine, he added. The ministry, represented by Additional Solicitor General (ASG) Sanjay Jain, had admitted in the court that Manoj was initially not considered for the award by the committee as they mistakenly believed that he was involved in a doping case. 3. Exim Bank extends $100 mn line of credit to Vietnam The Export-Import Bank of India [Exim Bank] on Wednesday said at the behest of Government of India it has extended an additional Line of Credit (LoC) of $100 million to the Government of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam for financing the purchase of equipment/supplies in Vietnam. With the signing of the LoC Agreement, Exim Bank, till date has extended four Lines of Credit to Vietnam, taking the total value of LoCs extended to Vietnam to $191.50 million. Lines of Credit The LoCs have supported export of items like equipment for hydro power project, cold rolling steel, carding and spinning machines, hydraulic power equipment, and tea processing machinery and the Nam Chien Hydropower Project in Vietnam. Exim Bank has now in place 195 Lines of Credit, covering over 75 countries in Africa, Asia, Latin America, Europe and the CIS, with credit commitments of over $10.71 billion, available for financing exports from India. 4. Alibaba founder Jack Ma refutes rumours of migrating to Hong Kong Jack Ma, the founder of China’s pioneering e-commerce firm Alibaba and one of the country’s richest man, has refuted reports of migrating to Hong Kong after the firm’s initial public offering in New York. Ma, 49, is expected to become China’s richest man after the offering this week. Spiking online rumours, he said he has no plans to emigrate to Hong Kong, a former British colony now under Chinese sovereignty. “I never thought I would emigrate anywhere. I was born in Hangzhou, studied in Hangzhou and started my business in Hangzhou,” the state-run Xinhua news agency quoted him as saying. His denial followed reports that most of the 300 Chinese billionaires wanted to migrate. Ma said he has always been a Hangzhou resident and he has not planned to change his status in the past, at present or in the future. Ma founded Alibaba in 1999 in Hangzhou, capital of east China’s Zhejiang Province. Alibaba is set to raise more than $20 billion through its IPO, the largest ever in US history. 5. Lalitha Kumaramangalam is NCW chief The Bharatiya Janata Party’s national executive member, Lalitha Kumaramangalam, has been appointed chairperson of the National Commission for Women. Making the announcement here, Union Women and Child Development Minister Maneka Gandhi said the decision was taken by the “Prime Minister and the government.” She added that Ms. Kumaramangalam was “very strong and forceful in her advocacy of women’s needs.” The new appointment has, however, fanned speculation that the WCD Ministry and the Union Law Ministry have failed to reach a consensus on the issue of appointing a judge as NCW chairperson, as proposed by the Law Ministry. 6. L.K Advani appointed chairman of Ethics committee of Lok sabha BJP veteran LK Advani has been appointed as the new Chairman of the prestigious Ethics Committee of Lok Sabha by Speaker Sumitra Mahajan. Manikrao Gavit of Congress was heading the Committee in the last Lok Sabha. 7. No Indian university on top 200 list Not a single Indian higher education institution has made it to the top 200 of the QS World University Rankings, which were released on Tuesday morning. The first Indian presence on the list is the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Bombay, ranked 222. IIT Delhi comes in second at 235 while those in Kanpur, Madras and Kharagpur are in the 300 range. Delhi University comes in the 420 to 430 band. Other Indian institutions that have made it to the rankings are Calcutta University, Benares Hindu University, Pune University, the Indian Institute of Science and Jawaharlal Nehru University. All the top 10 positions in the rankings list are taken by the U.S. and U.K.-based universities with the Massachusetts Institute of Technology retaining the first position for the second year running. The National University of Singapore leads the pack as far as the Asian continent is concerned and is ranked 22nd. 8. Plan to develop Buddhist site at Chebrolu As part of its endeavour to develop ancient sites in the region, the Archaeology and Museums Department has decided to transform the old Bhimeswara temple at Chebrolu in Guntur district into a tourist spot as precious Buddhist remains belonging to the first or second century A.D. were found adjacent to the temple. Six railing posts of Buddhist Stupa each measuring five-foot high and 60 cms width along with several other precious remains were unearthed while carrying out digging works on southern side of the temple as part of the temple renovation works by the department a few weeks ago. 9. Leonardo DiCaprio appointed as UN Messenger of Peace Academy Award-nominated actor and environmental activist Leonardo DiCaprio has been designated the United Nations Messenger of Peace by UN chief Ban Ki-moon, with a special focus on climate change. “DiCaprio is a credible voice in the environmental movement, and has a considerable platform to amplify its message. I am pleased he has chosen to add his voice to UN efforts to raise awareness of the urgency and benefits of acting now to combat climate change,” Ban said yesterday. The UN chief said that DiCaprio’s “first act” in his new role as Messenger of Peace will be to address the opening of the Climate Change Summit on September 23 in New York that has been convened by the Secretary General. 10. Stay or not stay with Britain; Scotland votes on independence referendum Scotland began voting on Thursday on whether to become independent from Britain in a referendum which has electrified the nation, dominating debate in homes and pubs from Edinburgh to the Highlands. 11. First NATO body launched in Bulgaria Bulgarian President Rosen Plevneliev has inaugurated the first NATO body in the country. The International Organization Crisis Management and Disaster Response Centre of Excellence (CMDR COE) has been set up. President Plevneliev, who is also the Supreme Commander-in-Chief of the countrys armed forces, said the establishment and functioning of CMDR COE is an important step and a good opportunity to strengthen the links between the allies within NATO.
Posted on: Thu, 18 Sep 2014 14:23:57 +0000
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