Current Affairs of 8 December 1. MDMK quits NDA, hits out at Modi Govt MDMK led by Vaiko today decided to quit the NDA alliance in Tamil Nadu alleging that the BJP government at the Centre was acting against Tamils and betrayed the people of the State. The MDMK District Secretaries meeting held here adopted an unanimous resolution to walk out of the NDA, the alliance it joined on the eve of Lok Sabha polls. The resolution moved by party supremo Vaiko declared that “MDMK can no more be part of the BJP—led NDA as the saffron party—led government has been insensitive to a host of issues concerning Tamil Nadu including Mullaperiyar dam issue“. The district secretaries meeting, one of the top level wings of the party, urged that India should not support Sri Lanka. “BJP has been acting against Tamils. Modi wished Mahinda Rajapaksa for elections (there). Modi government is silent on Subramanian Swamy’s proposal for Bharat Ratna for Rajapaksa”, the resolution stated. The party also came down heavily on the BJP government’s efforts on “sanskritisation of education.” 2. Indian Communication Satellite GSAT-16 launched successfully Indian Communication Satellite GSAT-16 was launched successfully from the Kourou space port in French Guiana. It was launched by the European Ariane-5 launch vehicle VA221 of Arianespace. Ariane-5 accurately placed the GSAT-16 into the projected Geosynchronous Transfer Orbit (GTO) after a flight of 32 minutes and 20.4 Seconds duration. ISROs Master Control Facility (MCF) at Hassan in Karnataka acquired the signal from the satellite and the commanding of the satellite was initiated. The satellite will be placed in the Geostationary Orbit by 12 December 2014 and subsequently the satellites communication transponders will be switched on for in-orbit testing. The satellite launch was originally scheduled for 5 December 2014 but was postponed due to bad weather. About GSAT-16 • The GSAT-16 satellite was built by Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) in Bengaluru. It is the 18th satellite launched by Arianespace for ISRO. • GSAT-16 is an advanced communication satellite weighing 3181.6 kg at lift-off and is inducted into the INSAT/GSAT system. 3. Ritu Mallya appointed as Director of MCF board Ritu Mallya was appointed as Director of Mangalore Chemicals and Fertilisers (MCF) board. She succeeded Vijay Mallya. Vijay Mallya had to quit the board of MCF after State Bank of India advised the company that it will be difficult for them to lend money to MCF with a willful defaulter Mallya on the board. She will continue to be director until the next annual general meeting of the company, where the shareholders’ approval will be sought. Ritu Mallya is a Bengaluru-based lawyer and was married to late Vittal Mallya, founder of the UB group who died in 1983. Ritu Mallya’s old name was Kailash Advani and ran a garments business at the time of her marriage to Vittal Mallya. 4. SBI to take part in Arab Asia Business Partnership Summit 2014 The State Bank of India (SBI) will participate at a summit in Bahrain aimed at strengthening trade and industrial business related banking requirements between Indian and the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC). The theme of the event scheduled from December 9-12, is ‘Reinventing Regional Markets’, which has been organised in collaboration with the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII). “We are extremely happy to be participating at the Arab Asia Business partnership summit, and will be there at the Bahrain pavilion of the summit,” Susim Das, Chief Executive Officer, State Bank of India, Bahrain, said. It is expected to attract participants from more than 12 countries, including ministerial delegations from Sudan and Bangladesh. “This will be a strong opportunity for us to bridge the gulf between potential investors and prospective business developers,” Das said. “The objective of the summit is to synergise trade and industrial business-related banking requirements between India and the GCC,” he said. “SBI’s presence at the summit will strengthen the ties between investors and potential traders in the Indian and the Gulf markets,” said Shaikha Noora, the Chairperson of the Arab-Asia Business Partnership Summit. “The summit’s goal is to create opportunities for regional businesses to share insights and forge cross-border partnerships across the entire Arab-Asian region,” said Roy Mathew, Executive Director of the Summit. SBI, Bahrain, was established in January 1977 as an Offshore Banking Unit, to synergise trade and industrial business-related banking requirements between Indian and the Gulf. It is now named as the Wholesale Banking Branch. Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the UAE are member states of GCC markets. 5. India defeated Pakistan to win Blind Cricket World Cup for the year 2014 Indian Blind Cricket team won the fourth edition of the Blind Cricket World Cup (BCWC) 2014 by defeating defending champions Pakistan. The captain of the Indian team was Shekar Naik. In the final held at Wally Wilson Cricket Ground in Cape Town, South Africa, Pakistan batting first scored 389 runs for the loss of 7 wickets in 40 over. Chasing a tough target, India managed to reach the target in 39.4 over, losing 5 wickets in the process In the semi-finals, Pakistan had defeated England, while India had ousted Sri Lanka. 6. ICC suspended Pakistani off-spinner Mohammad Hafeez for illegal bowling action The International Cricket Council (ICC) suspended Mohammad Hafeez from bowling in international cricket with immediate effect for illegal bowling action. Hafeez is the Pakistani cricket all-rounder who bowls off-spin. ICC suspended Hafeez after he failed to pass the bio-mechanic test conducted for his bowling action. The test revealed that all deliveries of Hafeez exceeded permitted 15 degrees level of tolerance (by which the arm is allowed to bend). 7. Carnatic vocalist Nedanuri Krishnamurthy died Veteran Carnatic vocalist Nedanuri Krishnamurthy died on 8 December 2014 in Visakhapatnam. He was 87. He was undergoing treatment for lung cancer. Sangita Kalanidhi Nedanuri Krishnamurthy • He was born on 10 October 1927 in Kothapalli in the erstwhile Hyderabad State of British India • He underwent training in Carnatic music (vocal and violin) with Dwaram Narasinga Rao Naidu in Maharaja’s Music College at Vizianagaram in early 1940s • Later he developed his style of music under guidance of Carnatic vocalist, Sripada Pinakapani 8. Boeing 787 aircraft completed the worlds first flight using Aviation Biofuel A Boeing 787 aircraft completed the worlds first flight using green diesel as Aviation Biofuel. Green Diesel is a sustainable biofuel made from vegetable oils, waste cooking oil and animal fats. The airplane performed in the same manner as it does with conventional jet fuel. The company powered its ecoDemonstrator 787 flight test airplane on 2 December 2014 with a blend of 15 percent green diesel and 85 percent petroleum jet fuel in the left engine. The flight test was coordinated with the US Federal Aviation Administration, Rolls-Royce and Pratt & Whitney. The company will provide data from several ecoDemonstrator flights to support efforts to approve this fuel for commercial aviation and help meet the industrys environmental goals. 9. UK signed an agreement with Bahrain to establish a permanent naval base at Mina Salman Port The United Kingdom (UK) signed an agreement with Bahrain to establish a permanent naval base at Mina Salman Port in Bahrain. The agreement was signed between the Foreign Secretary of UKs Philip Hammond and Foreign Minister of Bahrain Sheikh Khalid bin Ahmed bin Mohammed Al-Khalifa in Manama, the capital of Bahrain. The new base will bolster and provide the Royal Navy with a forward operating base and a place to plan, store equipment for naval operations and accommodate Royal Navy personnel. The base will be built by Bahrain at an estimated cost of 15 million pounds with the British underwriting the ongoing costs. It will be completed in 2015. 10. Infosys founders sell shares worth $1.1 bn Infosys share prices fell by over 3 per cent on Monday morning on bulk sale of 32.6 million shares by founder promoters. According to reports, four of the Infosys founders have offloaded shares at Rs. 1,988 each, which is a 4 per cent discount to Friday’s trading close. Deutsche Bank is the sole book runner of the sale and the books were covered just after the launch, said Thomson Reuters publication IFR. It named the founders as Narayana Murthy, Nandan Nilekani, S.D. Shibulal and K. Dinesh. Infosys executives were not immediately available for comment. The sale of the shares is expected to raise about $1.1 billion for the founders. As of September 30, 2014, the promoters held a 15.92 per cent stake in Infosys; foreign institutional investors held 42.67 per cent and domestic institutional investors held 14.48 per cent in Infosys. Infosys shares are up 18.8 per cent so far this year, while the benchmark Indian share index is up about 35.4 per cent. The sale of shares comes months after the company picked its first outsider as chief executive officer. Infosys, established by seven engineers in 1981, chose Vishal Sikka as its CEO in June in a bid to overhaul a company that was once the posterchild of Indias $100-plus billion IT services industry but which had in recent years scrambled against rivals for low-margin contracts.. 11. Israeli firm Adama to invest $50 mn in India Israeli crop protection solutions firm Adama will invest $50 million in India in the next 3-5 years. The company has already invested a similar amount in the country in setting up research and development and manufacturing facilities. Addressing a press conference here on Monday, Adama Agricultural Solutions President and CEO Chen Liechtenstein said India is a strategic base for the firm after Israel and China. 12. Modi, Mukesh Ambani most searched personalities in 2014: Yahoo Prime Minister Narendra Modi and industrialist Mukesh Ambani feature amongst the most searched personalities online this year, according to search engine Yahoo. According to the seventh edition of Yahoo India’s ‘Year in Review’, Prime Minister Narendra Modi led the list of ‘High and Mighty? the Political Top 10’ in 2014, followed by his aides Arun Jaitley (Finance and I&B Minister) and BJP President Amit Shah. Home Minister Rajnath Singh, Congress President Sonia Gandhi, Railways Minister Suresh Prabhu and BJP General Secretary Ram Madhav have also been named in the list. The review is based on users’ daily search habits and an editorial selection of what they read, recommended and shared most on Yahoo in India. “The slew of reforms and Modi’s efforts to improve diplomatic ties were of ongoing interest to Yahoo users. ‘Make in India’ made it to the top of the list of Biggest Financial Events of the Year,” Yahoo said. Industrialist Mukesh Ambani made a second appearance at the No. 1 spot as the nation’s most influential people, followed by Tata Group boss Cyrus Mistry and Gautam Adani, Chief of Adani Group of Industries. This year’s top finance newsmakers include Apple CEO Tim Cook, Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella, Infosys CEO and MD Vishal Sikka, Flipkart’s Sachin Bansal and Binny Bansal and Snapdeal’s Rohit Bansal. 13. ICICI Bank to hike ATM charges from Jan 1 Country’s largest private sector lender ICICI Bank has announced a hike in its ATM charges for saving account holders from January 1 next year. Under the new method, the number of free transactions in a month is fixed at five using own ATMs, while it has been capped at three for other banks’ machines. Customers can enjoy only five free transactions, including financial and non-financial, at the bank’s own automated teller machines (ATM), it said in a post on its website. After exceeding the free transaction limits, customers will have to pay Rs 20 per financial transaction excluding service tax and Rs 8.50 for every non-financial transaction, it said. For transactions at non-ICICI Bank ATMs, the number of free financial and non-financial transactions have been reduced to three per month at six metros of Mumbai, New Delhi, Chennai, Kolkata, Bengaluru and Hyderabad, after which the customer will have to pay Rs 20 for a financial transaction and Rs 8.50 per non-financial transaction. In case of usage in non-metro areas, a customer can enjoy five free transactions per month at non-ICICI Bank ATMs, after which the same charges apply, it said. The issue of ATM usage has been a very contentious one due to the inter-connect charges a bank has to pay to the other. Additionally, the operating costs have also gone up, following a spate of incidents at the ATMs like the robbery at Bengaluru last year, which started the debate on transaction charges. After consultations, the RBI last month started a system under which it allowed banks to charge from the fourth transaction onwards at other banks’ ATMs in metros, and also gave the liberty to banks to charge customers for the sixth transaction onwards at own machines.
Posted on: Mon, 08 Dec 2014 10:11:20 +0000
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