Tuesday, January 20, 2015

Starred Articles

India celebrated 67th Army Day on 15 January
India > 67th Army Day > 15 Jan
India observed 67th Army Day on 15 January to honour the day when Lieutenant General (later Field Marshal) K M Cariappa became the first Indian Commander-in-Chief of the Indian Army post Independence on 15 January 1949. He took over the position from General Sir Francis Butcher, the last British Commander-in-Chief of India on this day. Among those present at India gate to pay tribute were all three service chiefs, Army Chief General Dalbir Singh Suhag, Chief of Naval Staff Admiral Robin K Dhowan and Air Chief Marshal Arup Raha. They honoured the martyred soldiers by laying floral wreath. They also signed the record book at the India Gate.National capital New Delhi and all army headquarters marked the day by conducting parades and military shows.

Controversial book on Sonia Gandhi, The Red Sari, released in India
Books > The Red Sari > 16 Jan
An unauthorized biography of Congress Party President Sonia Gandhi, The Red Sari, written by Spanish author Javier Moro was released in India. The book tracks the journey of Sonia Gandhi from her childhood to her current status of being the only Indian politician to have refused the position of Prime Minister. The book also brings out the experiences of Nehru Gandhi family through Bangladesh War, the Emergency, Operation Blue Star, and other events that have shaped modern Indian history. It was scheduled to release in 2010 but was stalled by the Congress, the then ruling party of India for depicting the life of Sonia Gandhi in poor light. The book is potentially damaging for Sonia whose Italian origin is used against her by political opponents. It was given a green light by the BJP government which is currently in power in India.

AB De Villiers scores fastest ODI ton in just 31 balls
Sports > Cricket > 17 Jan
South African cricket captain AB De Villiers smashed one day cricket's fastest century in just 31 balls against West Indies at Johannesburg on Sunday, 18th of January. The 30 year old broke various records on his way to the milestone. The previous record was held by New Zealand's Corey Anderson who scored a century in 36 balls against the same opponents – West Indies in 2013. He also helped South Africa to reach a mammoth total of 439, which is the second highest ever, just below Sri Lanka's 442. The veteran South African batsman also broke Sanath Jayasurya's decades old record of the fastest half-century, by scoring one in just 16 balls, one less than the Sri Lankan. He also equalled Rohit Sharma's record of 16 sixes in a single inning. De Villiers went on to score 149 not out in just 44 deliveries.

National record set by Jimjang Deru in weightlifting
Sports > Weightlifting > 17 Jan
A national record was created by weightlifter Jimjang Deru of Arunachal Pradesh at the 10th Youth National Weightlifting Championship held in Yamuna Nagar, Haryana. A national champion in the category for the past three years, he maintained his position yet again this year by lifting 238 kgs in the under-56 kg category. While Deru secured gold at the event, Yukar Tachack from Arunachal won Silver medal for 62 kg weight category by lifting a total of 220 kgs. Jimjang Deru had also won the title of the Asian Youth Champion at the Asian Weightlifting Championship in Doha, Qatar.

Others

Mark Knowles named FIH 2014 Player of the Year
Sports > Hockey > 15 Jan
The International Hockey Federation (FIH) named Australia's Mark Knowles as the men's International Player of the Year for 2014. Mark faced a stiff competition from England's Ashley Jackson, teammate Eddie Ockenden, and the two Netherlands players, Robbert Kemperman and Robert van der Horst who all had outstanding years.Mark is a former FIH Young Player of the Year winner and was also named player of the tournament at the 2014 Hockey World Cup.

Hari Shankar Brahma appointed as the new CEC
India > Election Commission > 15 Jan
Hari Shankar Brahma, a 1975 batch IAS officer from Andhra Pradesh, was appointed as the Chief Election Commissioner by president Pranab Mukherjee on 15th of January, 2015. He will officially succeed outgoing chief VS Sampath who finished his tenure as he reached the upper age limit of 65 years. He has been a member of the election committee since 25th August 2010, when he was appointed as an election commissioner.

Deep Kumar Upadhyay named as Nepal's envoy to India
Politics and Government > Nepal envoy > 16 Jan
Veteran leader and former union minister of Nepal Deep Kumar Upadhyay was named as Nepal's ambassador to India on Friday. The post is critically important and was lying vacant from the past three years. The decision was taken in a cabinet meeting chaired by Nepalese PM Sushil Kumar Koirala.

Venture Capital Fund for Scheduled Castes launched by government
Politics and Government > Venture Capital Fund for Scheduled Castes > 17 Jan
The government recently launched a scheme to support aspiring entrepreneurs from the Scheduled Castes. The scheme called 'Venture Capital Fund for Scheduled Castes' was launched by Union Social Justice Minister Thaawar Chand Gehlot who called it a promising opportunity for people belonging to the SC categories. The members under this scheme will be aided with concessional finance to start new business ventures. According to Social Justice and Empowerment secretary Sudhir Bhargava, about 30 persons a year are estimated to benefit from this scheme, wherein each can avail loans up to Rs 15 crore.

HDFC ranked 45th in most valued banks of world
Corporate > HDFC > 18 Jan
In a list compiled by Relbanks containing 50 global banks in terms of market capitalisation, HDFC was ranked at 45th position with a market capitalisation of close to $41 billion. The private sector bank is the only Indian entity to figure in the list and also beats the global majors Credit Suisse, DBS Group, and Standard Chartered. SBI and ICICI also featured in the list of 100 most valued global banks. Well Fargo of the USA topped the list with a market cap of $284.39 billion. Top ten banks of the world includes 4 from the USA, 4 from China and one each from the UK and Australia.

PM Narendra Modi asks PSUs to work on single CSR project
India > Bank CSR > 18 Jan
PM Narendra Modi has asked public sector banks to work on a single corporate social responsibility (CSR) project instead of every bank supporting different CSR projects. The proposal was put forward by Modi at Gyan Sangam, a two-day workshop held in Pune recently, expecting a more meaningful deployment of funds as it would result in economies of scale. It was attended by the bankers to chart the growth path of PSU banks which are weighed down by rising bad loans and indifferent loan demand.
The revised Companies Act directs corporates to set aside 2% of their net profit towards CSR whereas banks are directed by the RBI to spend up to 1% of their previous year's net profit to support social causes.
The resources of all public sector banks for social causes are estimated at Rs 500 crore for the year 2014-15 with SBI alone having set aside Rs 108 crore for CSR initiatives.

Former PM Manmohan Singh adopts Pachim Bekeli Gaon Panchayat under the Sansad Adarsh Gram Yojana
Politics and Government > Sansad Adarsh Gram Yojana > 18 Jan
Former PM Manmohan Singh adopted Pachim Bekeli Gaon Panchayat under the Sansad Adarsh Gram Yojana (SAGY) on 19th of January, 2015. The village is located near Kamrup district of Assam and the congress leader represents Assam in Rajya Sabha. Over 125 MPs have adopted a village under the Sansad Adarsh Gram Yojana (SAGY).
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on 15 August 2014 announced Sansad Asarsh Gram Yojana. It aims to cover 2500 villages by 2019. Under the project, each Member of Parliament (MP) will take up the responsibility of providing infrastructure to and bringing about development of three villages by 2019.

BJP names Kiran Bedi as the CM candidate for Delhi
Politics and Government > Delhi Polls > 20 Jan
After a BJP parliamentary board meeting, party president Amit Shah made an announcement that former top cop and India's first woman IPS officer Kiran Bedi will be the party's CM candidate for Delhi. He also declared 62 of the 70 candidates, whom Bedi will lead during the polls. The former policewoman will contest from the Krishna nagar seat in East Delhi, which is considered as a party stronghold.

After years of staying away from active politics, former IPS officer Kiran Bedi announced to join BJP citing Narendra Modi's charismatic leadership as an influence. 

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