Current Affairs for IAS Exams - 13 July 2014

BRICS summit: Narendra Modi leaves for Brazil

Prime Minister Narendra Modi leaves on Sunday for Brazil for attending the five-nation summit of BRICS nations on July 14 and 15 .
Summit is expected to finalise the setting up of a development bank and seek reforms of the United Nations and international financial organisations.
Mr. Modi will be accompanied by a high-level delegation that includes Minister of State for Finance Nirmala Sitharaman, National Security Adviser A.K. Doval, Foreign Secretary Sujatha Singh and Finance Secretary Arvind Mayaram.
BRICS accounts for more than a quarter of the world’s land mass, 40 per cent of its population and a combined GDP of $24 trillion.
The BRICS Development Bank is expected to take further shape with a decision to concretise its corpus at $100 billion, about which there was a broad agreement in Durban. It will be a development bank which will give concessional credit to members of BRICS and other developing countries.
The Prime Minister will get an opportunity to engage with the Latin American region through meeting the leaders of South America, including heads of state and government from countries like Argentina, Bolivia, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, Guyana, Paraguay, Peru, Suriname, Uruguay and Venezuela.

President Pranab Mukherjee asks CPWD to become more dynamic

President Pranab Mukherjee urged the Central Public Works Department (CPWD) under the Ministry of Urban Development to focus on areas where innovation and modernisation in the infrastructure sector.
Speaking at a ceremony to mark the 160 years of CPWD’s service, Mr. Mukherjee urged the organisation to evolve into “a smarter, more dynamic and highly professional organisation”.
He asked the Department to aim at providing last mile connectivity of rural roads, health and educational infrastructure, water supply and sanitation and referring to sustainable habitats as the need of the hour and energy-efficient building.
He also completed the CPWD for undertaking and complementing challenging assignments in the Rann of Kutch, Thar Desert, in high altitude areas of the Himalayas, North-Eastern Region and also in Afghanistan.

Pay revised wages for MGNREGA, says SC

The Supreme Court on Friday directed all States to pay workers under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Act (MGNREGA) revised wages as per the notification issued by the Centre in February this year.
It further asked the government to find a way out to end the disparity between the wages paid under the MGNREGA and State-mandated rates under the Minimum Wages Act.
As per the February 13, 2014 notification issued by the Ministry of Rural Development, the wages per day to be paid by the States and Union Territories range from Rs. 156 in Uttarakhand to Rs. 236 in Haryana.

Modi hopes Obama invite will energise ties

Prime Minister thanked President Obama for the invitation and looked forward to a result-oriented visit with concrete outcomes that imparts new momentum and energy to India-U.S. strategic partnership.
Mr. Modi is likely to meet President Obama on September 30 after his visit to the U.N. General Assembly in New York.
By inviting Mr. Modi, the U.S. has made an exception to its rule of avoiding bilateral meetings in Washington while the General Assembly is in session.
The non-resident Indian community is expected to accord Mr. Modi a grand welcome in New York.

11 top Ukrainian separatists hit with EU sanctions

Ukrainian separatist leader Alexander Borodai and 10 other top rebel officials were hit with EU sanctions. This will include travel ban and asset freeze.
Ukraine has seen a descent into violence since February, when former President Viktor Yanukovych fled the former Soviet nation following mass protests over his reluctance to seek closer ties with the EU.
The separatists have also declared the Donetsk and Luhansk regions independent from Ukraine, with Borodai — a 41-year-old political consultant from Moscow — appointed in May as Prime Minister of the self-proclaimed Donetsk People’s Republic.
New Ukrainian President petro poroshenko called for uprooting of rebels, which led to continous clashes between ukrainian authority and seperatist.

Israel targets Gaza mosque as death toll passes 120

Israel’s aerial bombardment of Gaza continued for a fifth day on Saturday with a strike on a mosque said to be concealing a weapons along with other dozens targets bombed. Operations are called "operation protective edge".
Death toll in the coastal strip rose to 122.
Leaders in former ally Turkey and the Egyptian Foreign Ministry have condemned Israel’s use of force of Gaza.
The UN High Commission for Human Rights has expressed concern over the high number of civilian causalities.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Israel would not stop until Palestinian rocket attacks stop, and vowed not to cave to international pressure.

Government to take on GAAR implementation soon: Revenue Secretary

Revenue Secretary Shaktikanta Das on Saturday said the government would shortly take a view on whether controversial tax law GAAR should be implemented from the scheduled date of April, 2015.
The Government had earlier proposed imposing the General Anti-Avoidance Rules (GAAR) from April 1, 2015, for those claiming tax benefit of over Rs. 3 crore. The rules are aimed at minimising tax avoidance for investments made by entities based in tax havens.
As per the existing proposal, investments made after March 2013 will be covered under GAAR with effect from assessment year 2016-17.

Mars orbiter spacecraft to reach target in 75 days

Exactly 75 days from Saturday, India’s Mars spacecraft is scheduled for a rendezvous with the red planet, Mars Orbiter Spacecraft has travelled 525 million km on its heliocentric arc.
In the last crucial milestone on June 11, ISRO performed the second Trajectory Correction Manoeuvre (TCM—2) on the orbiter as a mid-course correction to keep the spacecraft on course.
The ambitious Mars mission under a Rs 450 crore project was launched from Sriharikota in Andhra Pradesh onboard the Pollar Satellite Launch Vehicle on November 5 2013.

RBI Governor launches Indian Bank's mobile branches

Indian Bank has, as part of the urban financial inclusion initiative, launched two mobile branches with ATM facility in Chennai.
Under the financial inclusion initiative, Indian Bank has provided banking services to 5,098 villages, of which 4,934 villages have been covered through smart card enabled business correspondent model.
Bank already operates eight mobile branches providing banking services in 70 villages.

AI now part of Star Alliance

Air India on Friday formally became a member of Star Alliance, a conglomeration of 26 overseas airlines.
Air India passenger can now travel to over 1,300 destinations right across the network and enjoy world-class service, better connectivity and seamless travel.”
The biggest growth will come from Air India's home market, which till now was served by 13 Star Alliance members flying to 10 destinations.

Finmin examining issues concerning merger of PSU banks: Sandhu

Finance Ministry on Saturday said it is examining various issues pertaining to mergers of public sector banks and that there will be some forward movement in the current year itself.
Earlier this week Finance Minister Arun Jaitley in his Budget speech said: “There have been some suggestions for consolidation of Public Sector Banks. Government, in principle, agrees to consider these suggestions.”
Mr. Jaitley, speaking to reporters after the Budget, had said that the consolidation could be between a big bank and its subsidiaries.

Nabard launches RuPay Kisan cards

National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (Nabard) today rolled out RuPay Kisan Card and RuPay Debit Card, it is in the nature of ATM cum Debit Card, is being issued by any cooperative bank in the state of Haryana.
RuPay cards by cooperative banks will enable them to improve their customer service and bring it on par with any other bank to farmers and other customers.