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Current Affairs for IAS Exams - 01 May 2014

Third largest economy

In a matter of six years, India emerged as the world’s third-largest economy in 2011 from being the tenth largest in 2005, moving ahead of Japan, while the US remained the largest economy closely followed by China.
According to the major findings of the ICP, six of the world’s 12 largest economies were in the middle-income category (based on the World Bank’s definition).
When combined, the 12 largest economies accounted for two-thirds of the world economy and 59 per cent of the population.
The purchasing power parities (PPPs)-based world GDP amounted to USD 90,647 billion, compared with USD 70,294 billion measured by exchange rates, adding that the share of middle-income economies in global GDP is 48 per cent when using PPPs and 32 per cent when using exchange rates.
The six largest middle-income economies — China, India, Russia, Brazil, Indonesia and Mexico — account for 32.3 per cent of world GDP, whereas the six largest high-income economies — US, Japan, Germany, France, UK and Italy — account for 32.9 per cent.
China and India make up two-thirds of the Asia and the Pacific economy, excluding Japan and South Korea, which are part of the OECD comparison. Russia accounts for more than 70 per cent of the CIS, and Brazil for 56 per cent of Latin America. South Africa, Egypt, and Nigeria account for about half of the African economy.At 27 per cent, China has the largest share of the world’s expenditure for investment (gross fixed capital formation) followed by the US at 13 per cent.
China and India account for about 80 per cent of investment expenditure in the Asia and the Pacific region.
The five economies with the highest GDP per capita are Qatar, Macao, Luxembourg, Kuwait and Brunei.
Eleven economies have more than USD 50,000 per capita, while they collectively account for less than 0.6 per cent of the world’s population. The US has the 12th—highest GDP per capita.
The five economies with highest actual individual consumption per capita are Bermuda, US, Cayman Islands, Hong Kong and Luxembourg.

Blast at Chennai Central Railway Station

Two explosions on a train killed a 24-year-old woman and wounded nine people, two of them critically, at the Chennai Central Railway Station .
The blasts took place at around 7:15 am in two sleeper coaches of the Guwahati-Bangalore Express, which had just pulled into platform 9 of the station for a 10-minute stop.
One of the bombs exploded under the seat of a woman, Swati, who was killed instantly. A National Investigation Agency team is going to Chennai to join the investigations. There has been tight security across India as it nears the end of staggered voting for the national election.
The station was cordoned off after the blasts and scores of police personnel, along with sniffer dogs, checked the platforms and coaches.
The state government has announced compensation of one lakh for the family of the woman who died, Rs. 55,000 for those who are critical and Rs. 5,000 for the others who were injured.

Top 100 Global Varsities

The prestigious Indian Institute of Technology, Guwahati has taken India into the world's top 100 university rankings for the first time with an entry at No. 87.
IIT Guwahati is the only Indian educational institute in the 2014 league table of '100 Under 50' institutions released by the Times Higher Education magazine.
The IIT shares the 87th rank on the list with Portugal's New University of Lisbon and Australia's University of Western Sydney.
The annual evaluation of the world's top 100 universities under 50 years of age had a distinct Eastern stance with South Korea's Pohang University of Science and Technology topping the list for the third consecutive year.

Indian developmental assistance in Afghanistan

The US Pentagon, in a report to the Congress has praised the Indian contribution in the peaceful development of Afghanistan.
India continues to support Kabul believing a secure and stable Afghanistan will benefit the region and facilitate economic corridors into Central Asia.
India and Afghanistan signed a strategic partnership declaration in 2011, which formalised cooperation on governance, economics, commerce, education, public administration, and security/law enforcement.
In its report, the Pentagon also praised the Afghan national security forces for their conduct in the recent presidential elections.
According to the Pentagon, the Taliban-led insurgency failed to achieve its stated operational objectives over the reporting period

Exim Bank’s PDC in Africa

Export-Import Bank of India (Exim Bank) plans to set up a project development company (PDC) in Africa, with the participation of State Bank of India (SBI), IL&FS and African Development Bank.
The new company will essentially look to bring infrastructure projects in Africa to a bankable stage and facilitate exports from India to Africa. This is the first time Exim Bank is looking to set up a PDC and also the first time in Africa.
Meanwhile, the bank announced a net profit of Rs. 710 crore during the financial year 2013-14. The bank restructured assets worth Rs. 1,400 crore in 2013-14 and it said that it has assets worth Rs. 400 crore in the restructuring pipeline.
189 LOCs, covering 75 countries in Africa, Asia, CIS, Europe and Latin America, with credit commitments aggregating $ 10.33 billion are currently available for utilisation, while a number of prospective LOCs are at various stages of negotiation.

Top test rank for Australia

Australia has reclaimed the number one Test ranking for the first time in five years.
They also remain the top-rated one day international side in the latest official rankings from the International Cricket Council (ICC).
It is the first time since December 2008 that the country has been ranked number one in Tests and ODIs at the same time. They last held the top Test ranking in August 2009, when they were displaced after losing the Ashes 2-1 to England.