PINNACLE INSTITUTE

JANUARY NEWS LETTER

31st January
1. Sachin & Prof C N R Rao to get Bharat Ratna on February 4
i. President Pranab Mukherjee will confer cricket legend Sachin Tendulkar and
eminent scientist Prof C N R Rao with Bharat Ratna on February 4 at Rashtrapati Bhavan.
ii. A formal ceremony, which is likely to be attended by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and UPA
chairperson Sonia Gandhi, will be held at the Rashtrapati Bhavan.
iii. The Little Master was given the honour hours after he played his 200th and last Test against the
touring West Indies in November last year.
iv. Tendulkar (40) and Rao (89), both of whom are recipients of Padma Vibhushanthe countrys
second highest civilian honour, join the list of 41 eminent personalities to get the award given in
recognition of exceptional service of the highest order.

Note: i. Tendulkar is the first sportsman and the youngest recipient of the the Bharat Ratna. Besides
Tendulkar, Rao will also be presented with the award.
ii. Prof Rao is a well recognized international authority on solid state and materials chemistry. The 89-
year-old has published over 1,400 research papers and 45 books. His contributions have been
recognized by most major scientific academies around the world through conferment of memberships
and fellowships, and has been honoured with several national and international awards.
iii. Sachin Tendulkar and Prof Rao join the list of 41 eminent personalities to get the Bharat Ratna.

2. Disapprove of ATM charges: RBI Dty Governor

i. RBI Deputy Governor K C Chakrabarty has said that he disapproves the demand made by banks to
charge their customers for using ATM services.
Speaking to reporters in Mumbai, Mr. Chakrabarty said it is a little bit ridiculous that bank will charge
customers for using an ATM.
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ii. He said that instead banks must compare the charges of serving a customer at a branch as against
at the ATM.
iii. He further informed that RBI does not decide on service charges, and it was up to the banks to
decide their charges.
iv. After a near-fatal attack on a Corporation Bank employee at an ATM in Bangalore last November,
many states have made it mandatory to have round-the-clock security at ATMs, pushing up banks'
costs. Banks' umbrella body IBA has requested RBI to cap the number of free transactions to five per
month across any ATM network.

3. RBI issues guidelines for early detection of bad loans
i. RBI has released guidelines that will help banks in early recognition of bad loans and prompt steps
for recovery or sale of unviable accounts.
ii. In the document called Framework for Revitalizing Distressed Assets in the
Economy, RBI has asked banks to form a committee called Joint Lenders forum to formulate a plan
for early resolution of stress in an account.
iii. The committee should also consider an option to transfer the promoters' holdings to a security
trustee or an escrow arrangement till turnaround of company.
iv. In the new guidelines, which will be effective from April 1, the RBI has said that restructuring of a
bad loan should be done in such a manner that shareholders, including promoters, bear the first loss
and not the lenders. The guidelines ask banks to make future loans more expensive for borrowers
who don't cooperate in resolving existing bad loans.
v. It also offers a liberal regulatory treatment for sale of distressed asset and allows lenders to spread
loss on sale of such assets over two years provided loss is fully disclosed.
vi. RBI has said that the refinancing institution can fix a repayment period by taking into account the
life cycle of the project and cash flows from the project.
vii. According to RBI, the amount of recast loans touched an all-time high of 4 trillion rupees or 10.2
per cent of the overall advances as of September 2013.

4. India and Fiji sign double taxation avoidance agreement
i. India and Fiji have signed a Double Taxation Avoidance Agreement, DTAA for the avoidance of
double taxation and for the prevention of fiscal evasion with respect to taxes on income.
ii. The Agreement was signed in Delhi yesterday by the Finance Minister P. Chidambaram and Fiji's
Minister of Justice, Public Enterprises, and Industry and Trade Aiyaz Sayed-Khaiyum.
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iii. Speaking on the occasion, the Finance Minister Mr Chidambaram said that the Agreement will
provide tax stability to the residents of India and Fiji and facilitate mutual economic cooperation. The
move will also stimulate the flow of investment, technology and services between both countries.

5. India became third largest crude oil importer in the World
i. India overtook Japan to become the third largest crude oil importer in the World. As per the data
released by Reuters on 30 January 2014, India imported 3.86 million barrels-per-day of crude oil in
the year 2013.
ii. India's crude oil imports were nearly 6 percent higher than Japan's customs-cleared imports of
3648372 barrels-per-day (211716710 kilolitres).

Worlds Top Five Oil-Importing Countries
1.China: China imports 6.30 million barrels per day
2.U.S.A: USA imports 6.24 million barrels per day
3. India: India imports 3.86 million barrels per day
4. Japan: Japan imports 3.64 million barrels per day
5.Germany: Germany imports 2.67 million barrels per day

6. Arun Gupta appointed as CMD of Shipping Corporation of India
i. Arun Kumar Gupta took charge as the Chairman and Managing Director (CMD) of Shipping
Corporation of India (SCI) by the Union Government on 28 January 2014. The post was vacant for
over a year after the retirement of S Hajara.
ii. Before this elevation to the post, Arun Gupta was the director of offshore services at the Mumbai-
headquartered shipping line. Since retirement of S Hajara in December 2012, the Shipping
Corporation of India has been without a full time head and has reported a net loss of 114.31 crore
rupees in last fiscal.
iii. BK Mandal, the director finance of SCI has been acting as a CMD since the retirement of Hajara.

7. China marks arrival of the Year of the Horse

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i. In China, celebrations marking the arrival of the "Year of the Horse" have taken place across the
country.
ii. The Chinese Lunar New Year is a long-held traditional holiday for the Chinese people.
iii. It is commonly celebrated by Chinese people across the globe. China's Lunar New Year is also the
largest annual mass migration on earth, as hundreds of millions of people head back to their home
towns to spend the festival with their families.
iv. Chinese President Xi Jinping has delivered his Lunar New Year greetings to all Chinese people
living in and around the world. He also issued a call for ethnic harmony among the people living in
China.
v. In Hong Kong, crowds gathered at the city's best-known temples last night to make wishes for the
new year. Worshippers in Taipei also crowded local temples to pray for prosperity in the new year.

8. Vijay Bahuguna resigns as Uttarakhand CM, Harish Rawat set to take over

i. Chief Minister Vijay Bahuguna visited the Rajbhavan in Dehradun and submitted his resignation
letter to the Governor Aziz Qureshi on Friday. Union Water Resources Minister Harish Rawat is all set
to become Bahugunas successor in the state.
ii. Bahuguna, who was under fire for poor handling of relief work after last years flash floods, handed
over his resignation to Governor Aziz Qureshi at Raj Bhawan in Dehradun.
iii. The decision to replace Bahuguna was reportedly taken at a meeting between Congress chief
Sonia Gandhi and senior party leaders on Wednesday.
iv. Rawat is scheduled to reach Dehradun on Friday. Congress sources said it was believed that
Rawat would galvanise the party workers and boost the partys prospects in the general elections.
v. Currently an MP from Haridwar parliamentary seat, Rawat also served as state party president
when ND Tiwari was chief minister between 2002 and 2007.
vi. After the 2012 Uttarakhand assembly polls, Bahuguna was said to be the Congress high
commands favourite choice for the chief ministers post.
vii. He is the son of former Uttar Pradesh chief minister HN Bahuguna, and his sister and party
spokesperson Rita Bahuguna Joshi is also said to be on good terms with the partys central
leadership.

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9. Cricket: New Zealand win final ODI vs India by 87 runs
i. A listless Indian cricket team slumped to its worst ODI series defeat in New Zealand, going down 0-
4, after the Black Caps hammered them by 87 runs in the inconsequential fifth and final one-dayer in
Wellington on Friday.
ii. New Zealand's Ross Taylor made his second-straight century of 102 runs and Kane Williamson
made 88 runs, scoring his fifth-consecutive half century.
iii. From Indian side, Varun Aaron who took 2 wickets giving 60 runs, was the most successful bowler
while Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Mohammad Shami took one wicket each.
iv. With this, the hosts have bagged the 5-match ODI series. They had won the first two games, tied
the third and also won the fourth to claim the series and also dethrone the Men in Blue from the
Number One spot in the ODI rankings.

10. Dhoni is 4th fastest batsman to score 8000 runs in ODIs

i. Indian captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni today became the fourth fastest batsman to complete 8,000
runs in one-day cricket during the fifth and final ODI against New Zealand in Wellington.
ii. The 32-year-old reached the milestone in the 26th over of the match. It is a commendable
achievement by the wicketkeeper-batsman who comes in lower down the order.
iii. The three men ahead of him in the list are illustrious compatriots Sachin Tendulkar and Sourav
Ganguly and the West Indian legend Brian Lara, all of whom batted in the top three. Dhoni has taken
214 innings to touch t he landmark.

11. Mumbai police chief quits, may plunge into politics
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i. Mumbai Police Commissioner, Satyapal Singh, tendered his resignation to
the State Home Department on Thursday and plans to explore a career in politics.
ii. Mr.Singh has sought Voluntary Retirement from service and wants to be relieved from his duties by
the second week of February.
iii. According to sources Mr. Singh has received offers from two major political parties - BJP and AAP.
The BJP is keen to field Mr. Singh for a Lok Sabha seat from Meerut.
iv. Now I would like to expand my area of operation and I would like to devote my time and energy for
social harmony, national reconstruction and world peace," Mr. Singh added
v. Mr Singh becomes the first police chief to quit the force. The 1980 batch officer was due for
retirement in 2015.

12. Armys Sikh Light Infantry wins best marching contingent award

i. Army's Sikh Light Infantry has been awarded the best marching contingent among the three
Services at the Republic Day parade this year while the CRPF contingent bagged the honours in the
paramilitary and auxiliary forces category.
ii. In the Services category, Territorial Army (Sikh LI) has been adjudged the best marching
contingent in the Republic Day Parade 2014.
iii. In the category of Para-Military Forces and other auxiliary marching contingents, CRPF contingent
has been adjudged the best contingent," a defence ministry release said.
iv. Out of the 18 tableaux, including five from union ministries and departments, the West Bengal
tableaux, which depicted the famous Purulia Chhau dance, has bagged the top award.
v. "Tamil Nadu's tableaux on Pongal festival was adjudged the second best, while the third position
has gone to the Assam tableaux based on the contribution of legendary folk singer, composer and
writer Bhupen Hazarika to Assam's folk culture," the release said.
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vi. In the competitive category of performances by school children, the dance presented by Navy
Children School, New Delhi has been adjudged the best while a consolation prize was awarded to
Govt Sarvodaya Kanya Vidyalaya, Hastsal, New Delhi, for their beautiful portrayal of traditional folk
dance of Chhattisgarh.

13. Samsung is most trusted brand in India: Study
i. South Korean consumer electronics major Samsung is Indias most
trusted brand followed by Sony of Japan and the homegrown salt-to-steel multinational Tata, says a
study report released on Thursday.
ii. The 'Brand Trust Report 2014' says: Samsung has grown steadily in trust ranks over the last four
years - fifth in 2011, fourth in 2012, second in 2013 and has reached Indias most trusted rank this
year.
iii. Samsungs strategy of focusing on the core intangibles of its brand is evident from its climb to
leadership in BTR 2014, said N. Chandramouli, chief executive officer, TRA (formerly known as Trust
Research Advisory).

Note: Hewlett Packard emerged as the most trusted brand in technology, Hero in automobiles and
LIC in financial services and insurance sector.

The list of top ten brands:
1. Samsung 2. Sony 3. Tata
4. LG 5. Nokia 6. Hewlett Packard
7. Hero 8. Honda 9. Reliance
10. M&M

14. Obama to nominate Navy Vice Admiral Rogers as NSA chief
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i. U.S. President Barack Obama will nominate a senior U.S. Navy officer as the Director of the
National Security Agency (NSA), the federal body embroiled in a row over its spying programme.
ii. Vice Admiral Michael Rogers, 53, would take over at a moment when the spy agency is under
unprecedented pressure following leaks from ex-intelligence contractor Edward Snowden.
iii. Mr. Rogers, a trained cryptologist, would take over from Gen Keith Alexander at the helm of the
NSA, and also as head of the U.S. military cyber command.

15. Jayawardene becomes sixth-highest scorer in Test cricket

i. Veteran Sri Lankan batsman Mahela Jayawardene has become the sixth-highest run-scorer in the
history of Test cricket with his unbeaten double-century on the third day of the first Test against
Bangladesh in Dhaka.
ii. Jayawardene's 203 and Kithuruwan Vithanage's maiden century (103) helped Sri Lanka declare
their first innings at 6-730 on the third day, which was the highest score by any team against
Bangladesh.
iii. Jayawardene has gone ahead of Allan Border (11,174 runs) and West Indies star Shivnarine
Chanderpaul (11,219) to move behind record-holder Sachin Tendulkar, Australia's Ricky Ponting,
Jacques Kallis, Rahul Dravid and Brian Lara on the all-time list.
iv. The report mentioned that the former captain, who has 11,236 runs in 142 matches, equalled
teammate Kumar Sangakkara 's Sri Lankan record of 33 Test centuries, and his and Vithanage's
heroics gave Sri Lanka a gigantic 498-run first-innings lead over the hosts.


30th January
1. Cabinet approves quota hike of subsidised LPG cylinders to12
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i. Days after Rahul Gandhi demanded, at a mega Congress conclave, that the
quota of subsidised LPG per household be raised from nine to 12 cylinders a year, the Union Cabinet
has today approved the proposal.
ii. The move will cover 97 per cent consumers and it is expected to inflate the government's subsidy
bill by 5000 crore rupees, Oil Minister Veerappa Moily said today. The government currently
spends Rs.46,000 crore a year on LPG subsidy, at a time when the economy is struggling with slow
growth and high inflation.
iii. Congress Vice-President Rahul Gandhi had said at a party meet in Delhi earlier this month,
"Pradhan Mantriji (Prime Minister, Sir), we cannot make do with just nine subsidized cylinders of
cooking gas. Women in this country need more. We need 12 per family, sir, please increase the
quota."
iv. Several Congress MPs have also been pushing for the rollback; leaders reckon that the populist
move will stand the party in good stead in the general elections, due by May.

2. Kiwi Kathy Cross is first woman in ICC umpire's panel
i. New Zealand's Kathy Cross today became the first woman to be inducted in an
ICC umpires' panel when she was named as an Associate and Affiliate International official following
the annual review and selection process.
ii. The 56-year-old Cross was born in Taumarunui, King Country, and is now eligible for appointments
to ICC World Cricket League Divisions 3 to 6.
iii. Cross has previously officiated in the Women's World Cup in Australia in 2009 and in India in
2013. Cross said she was thrilled with her induction into the panel.

3. Country's first monorail to roll out from Mumbai on Feb 2
nd

i. The much-awaited countrys first monorail is all set to roll out in Mumbai from Feb 2.
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ii. The Chief Minister of Maharashtra Prithviraj Chavan will officially
launch the first phase of the monorail project between Chembur and Wadala on February 1.
iii. The fully air-conditioned monorails minimum fare will five rupess while, maximum fare will be
twenty rupees. He added that it has a capacity to 20,000 passengers per hour. Initially the frequency
of train will be after every 15 minutes.
iv. Earlier, this month the state urban development authorities have given their safety nod to
monorails commercial operations.
vi. The official informed that the 9 km long first phase of monorail from Wadala to Chembur will have
seven stations.

4. RBI doubles sub-limit for FIs in govt securities
i. The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has doubled the sub-limit for foreign
investment in government securities, to USD 10 billion by long-term investors.
ii. RBI's move is aimed to attract more foreign funds. Investors like sovereign wealth funds (SWFs),
multilateral agencies, insurance funds, pension funds and foreign central banks are considered as
long term investors.
iii. In a notification issued from Mumbai on Wednesday the RBI said the decision taken in consultation
with the government will be applicable with immediate effect.
iv. However, the total limit of USD 30 billion available for foreign investments in government securities
has not been tinkered with.
v. The RBI has made it clear that the operational guidelines in this regard will be issued by SEBI.

Note: i. Earlier, the sub-limit for long term investors registered with SEBI was USD 5 billion.
ii. Foreign institutional investors(FIIs) - qualified foreign investors (QFIs) and long-term investors -
registered with market watchdog SEBI are allowed to purchase government securities and non-
convertible debentures (NCDs) or bonds issued by Indian companies within the limit of USD 30 billion.

5. India-Saudi Arabia to double bilateral trade over next 5 years
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i. India and Saudi Arabia have decided to enhance their bilateral trade and economic co-operation.
Both the countries have urged the public and private sectors to build strong partnerships in different
fields.
ii. The 10th India-Saudi Arabia Joint Commission met in Riyadh during January 27-28 under the
chairmanship of the finance minister P. Chidambaram and his Saudi counterpart.
iii. It was decided at the JCM to form a Joint technical team to promote cooperation in the field of oil,
gas and minerals. The JCM called for the participation of Indian pharmaceutical firms in Saudi Arabia
and finding the ways to make Indian companies eligible for Saudi projects.
iv. The JCM agreed on several measures to give a boost to the ties. Both sides also reviewed
progress made in the India - Saudi Strategic Partnership which called for deeper engagement in
political, economic, security and defence sectors.
v. An India Saudi Investment Fund will be set up in a time bound manner. Enhanced cooperation in all
security fields and exchange of information, especially in organized crimes, money laundering and
drug smuggling have been agreed to.
vi. India offered its expertise in Development of IT Parks; Development of Telemedicine network and
the promotion of Indian ICT products and services.

6. Anand Kumar, the founder of Super30 got Ramanujan Mathematics award
i. Anand Kumar, a mathematician and founder of Super30 classes was conferred with the 2014
Ramanujan Mathematics Award in Rajkot on 27 January 2014.
ii.The award was given to him at the Eighth National Mathematics Convention organised in Rajkot.
iii. As award, he was presented a cash award of 20000 rupees by the Pitamber Patel, an Atomic
scientist and JJ Rawal, a scientist.

About Ramanujan Mathematics Award
Ramanujan Mathematics Award is an annual award that is given to a person who has at least three
papers published in international journals and is involved in teaching mathematics.
Ramanujan Prize was first awarded in 2005 to Marcelo Viana from Brazil
Other Indian to be awarded with the prize is Ramdorai Sujatha, India in 2006

7. Six PSUs signed MoU to set up Worlds largest Solar Power Project
i. Six Public Sector Units (PSUs) have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on 29 January
2014 to set up the Worlds largest 4000 MW ultra solar power project in Rajasthan.
ii. The joint venture company will develop the project with equity participation of BHEL (26%), SECI
(Solar Energy Corporation of India) 23%, SSL (Sambhar Salt Ltd) 16%, Power Grid 16%, SJVNL
(Satluj Jal Vidyut Nigam) 16%, REIL (Rajasthan Electronics & Instruments Ltd) 3%.
iii. The project will be the largest single location solar plant spread across 19000 acres at Sambhar in
Rajasthan. The project will be developed in two phases in 7 to 8 years.
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iv. In the first phase of the project 1000 MW will be made operational within three years and the
remaining 3000 MW will be covered in the next subsequent phases.
v. The First phase will require an investment of 7500 crore rupees. The department of heavy industry
will set up a Special Purpose Vehicle (SPV) for the investment.

Note: The plant life is estimated to be 25 years and is expected to supply 6400 million units of energy
per year. The plant will help to reduce CO2 emissions by over 4 million tonnes per year.

8. Rail coach factory to be set up at Kolar
i. The Ministry of Railways and the Government of Karnataka will sign a memorandum of
understanding (MoU) for the setting up of a rail coach factory at Kolar in Karnataka.
ii. The new rail coach factory, on its inception, will serve to meet the increasing demand for passenger
coaches and will also foster the economic development of the State.

9. Punjab Rural Olympics kicks off with bullock cart race
i. Four-day Kila Raipur Rural Sports Festival is starting with bullock-cart race at village Kila Raipur in
Punjabs Ludhiana district, today.
ii. Popularly known as Rural Olympics, this annual event is on since 1940s.
iii. The events include tug-of-war, kabbadi, dog race, tractor race, tent pegging, athletics, hockey
matches, cycle races, wrestling etc.
iv. The games, to be played in 7-acre open stadium, attract participants from various neighboring
states of Punjab and beyond

10. Ajoy Misra elevated as the CEO and MD of Tata Global Beverages Limited
i. Ajoy Misra has been appointed as the CEO and Managing Director of Tata Global Beverages
Limited (TGBL) on 29 January 2014.
ii. At the time of elevation to the position of CEO and MD, Misra was serving the company as Deputy
CEO and Executive Director of TGBL. His appointment will come to effect from 1 April 2014 as
decided by the board of directors of TGBL.
iii. On assuming the charge, he will replace Harish Bhat, who will step down from the position on 31
March 2014.
iv. Bhat as the managing director of Tata Global Beverages and the chairman of Tata Coffee will join
the Tata Sons as a member of the Group Executive Council (GEC) and will report to the Chairman,
Cyrus P Mistry, from 1 April 2014.

11. India has 37 per cent of the world's illiterate adults
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i. India has by far the largest population of illiterate adults -- 287 million or 37 percent of the global
total, said a report released on Wednesday.
ii. The "EFA Global Monitoring Report, 2013-14: Teaching and Learning: Achieving Quality for All",
commissioned by the UNESCO, said 10 countries (including India) account for 557 million or 72 per
cent of the global population of illiterate adults.
iii. "India's literacy rate rose from 48 per cent in 1991 to 63 per cent in 2006, (the latest year for which
data was available), but population growth cancelled the gains. So there was no change in the
number of illiterate adults," the report said.
iv. The report said that without attracting and adequately training enough teachers, the learning crisis
will "last for several generations and hit the disadvantaged the hardest".
v. "It leaves one in four young people in poor countries unable to read a single sentence, affecting
one-third of young women in South and West Asia," it said.
vi. The countries include Bhutan, India, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and Afghanistan.
vii. At the report launch, Delhi Education Minister Manish Sisodia said it was essential to change the
content in our textbooks, so that the "future generation is more aware" about the various issues
prevalent in society.

12. TRAI released Working Guidelines for Spectrum Trading
i. Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) released working guidelines for trade of spectrum on
28 January 2014. The guidelines need to be approved by the government before it can be
implemented.


Main Working Guidelines are:

Only outright transfers of airwaves have been permitted from the seller to the buyer.
While no permission will be required from the government for trading of spectrum, the regulator has
mandated that both the seller and the buyer will have to inform the licensor six weeks before the trade
takes place.
Only that spectrum will be allowed to put up for trade for which the companies have paid a market
determined price, and trade of spectrum will be on a pan-licensed service area basis.
While the transaction will be between two partiesbuyer and seller the regulator has provided that
the seller has the flexibility to choose the prospective buyer of its spectrum through mechanism such
as tender or auction.


29th January
1. National Waqf Development Corp. Limited inaugurated by PM
i. Manmohan Singh, the Prime Minister of India on 29 January 2014 inaugurated National Waqf
Development Corporation Limited (NAWADCO) that is a new Central Public Sector Enterprise in
New Delhi.
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ii. It will be remain under the Ministry of Minority Affairs. National Waqf Development Corporation
(NAWADCO) has been established with an authorized share capital of Rs.500 Crore.
iii. An official release said that the Waqf Corporation is an important institution that will work for
development of Waqf properties for the community welfare.
iv. It will also facilitate and mobilize financial resources for the development of Waqf properties for
community development purposes in a joint venture with the state and Union Territory Waqf Boards
and the Mutawallis.


Note: i. The corporation has been establishment as a follow-up of the recommendation of Sachar
Committee.
ii. In India more than 4.9 lakh registered Waqf properties are present and it fetches about 163 crore
rupees annually. The recommendation of Sachar Committee says that if the properties of Waqf board
are developed properly than it will bring an annual income of about 12000 crore.
iii. NAWADCO has been established with an authorized share capital of 500 crore rupees with an aim
of facilitating and mobilizing the financial resources

About Sachar Committee
i. The Government of India constituted a Prime Minister's High Level, Justice Sachar Committee for
preparation of a Report on the Social, Economic and Educational Status of Muslim Community of
India.
ii. The Committee has submitted its report and this report is under implementation.
iii. The Sachar Committee Report is under implementation and in its findings it has established that
Muslims in India are most backward community despite of their rich cultural heritage.
iv. The committee was chaired by Justice Rajindar Sachar and was constitution following the
notification issued by the PMO on 9 March 2005.

2. U.P. government launched Samajwadi pension scheme
i. Uttar Pradesh government launched Samajwadi pension scheme on 28 January 2014. The scheme
will benefit over 40 lakh families. Under the scheme pension from 500 rupees to 700 rupees will be
given to beneficiaries.
ii. UP government also decided to make 1.70 Shiksha Mitra as teachers. The Shiksha mitras are
teaching in primary schools for a long time and demanding their regularization as teachers.
iii. Besides, it also decided to modernize police stations and control rooms in Gautam Budha Nagar
and the project will be funded by Nodia authority.

3. President accepts resignation of Kumari Selja
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i. President Pranab Mukherjee on Wednesday accepted the resignation of Social Justice and
Empowerment Minister Kumari Selja from the Council of Ministers, with immediate effect.
ii. Prime Minister, the President has directed that Minister of Railways Shri Mallikarjun Kharge shall be
given additional charge of the transecting business of Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment.
iii. The fourth-time Lok Sabha member put in her papers soon after being nominated to the Rajya
Sabha from her home state Haryana. Now, she will devote more time to party organization.
iv. Selja, 51, a known detractor of Haryana Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda, comes at a time
when the Congress high command is undertaking a rejig in the party ahead of the Lok Sabha
elections.

4. BCCI to assume Central Leadership responsibility in ICC
i. The International Cricket Council, ICC Board has strongly backed the principles related to future
structure, governance and financial models of the apex cricket body of the world.
ii. The board in its meeting in Dubai yesterday decided that the Board for Control of Cricket in India,
BCCI would assume a central leadership responsibility.
iii. A BCCI representative will chair the ICC Board from June 2014 onwards for a period of two years.
He will lead a five member committee including the representatives of Cricket Australia, CA , the
English Cricket Board ,ECB and two other members from within the board.
iv. A new company will be set up to tender future commercial rights for ICC events.
v. ICC President Alan Isaac welcomed the decisions and said the measures would help expansion of
the game of cricket and emphasize the primacy of Test cricket.
vi. He added that for the first time in cricket's history, participation will be based entirely on merit ,
giving incentives to everyone play better cricket and develop better cricketers.

Note: There will be three major ICC events in each four-year cycle, including the ICC Champions
Trophy which will replace the ICC World Test Championship. The meeting decided that all Members
can play all formats of cricket on merit.

5. SC refuses to review verdict on criminalising gay sex
i. The Supreme Court has refused to review its verdict on criminalising gay sex. The Apex Court took
up petitions filed by the Centre and rights activists seeking review of its earlier verdict declaring gay
sex an offence.
ii. The gay rights activists submitted that there are a number of grave errors and wrong application of
law in the judgement that needs to be corrected.
iii. Amid huge outrage against the judgement, the Centre also filed a petition seeking review to avoid
grave miscarriage of justice to thousands of gay persons.
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6. Union Ministry of Rural Development signed MoU with Digital Green
i. The Union Ministry of Rural Development signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with
Digital Green on 28 January 2014.
ii. The MoU was signed to exchange the relevant livelihood practices among rural communities under
the National Rural Livelihood Mission (NRLM).

About Digital Green:
i. Digital Green is an international, non-profit development organization and it is supported by Bill and
Melinda Gates Foundation, Ford Foundation, and Government of India.
ii. It aims to provide strategic direction, management, and coordination of the development,
successful implementation, and monitoring of Digital Green's livelihood-related activities.
iii. It builds on the existing extension systems of public, private, and civil society organizations and
strengthens them to be more effective and efficient.

About National Rural Livelihood Mission
Aajeevika or National Rural Livelihoods Mission (NRLM) was launched by the Ministry of Rural
Development (MoRD) in June 2011.
NRLM is the biggest programme for women empowerment in India.
NRLM aims to cover rural poor households through self-managed Self Help Groups (SHGs) and
federated institutions and support them for livelihoods collectives.
NRLM believes in harnessing the innate capabilities of the poor and complements them with
capacities (information, knowledge, skills, tools, finance and collectivization) to participate in the
economic growth.

7. NABARD projects a credit potential of Rs 12,727 cr for U'khnad
i. The National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (NABARD) on Wednesday projected a
credit potential of Rs 12726.83 crore in the state focus paper (SFP) for the year 2014-15
in Uttarakhand under the priority sector.
ii. This envisages an increase of 17.35% over the current year projection, said S Selvaraj, Chief
General Manger of NABARDs Uttarakhand regional office while releasing the SFP.
iii. While projecting the credit potential, NABARD took into account the resources endowed with the
state, infrastructure and extension support available, market trend, skill profile and the damage
caused by the devastating floods last year.

8. India ranks at the bottom in terms of Intellectual Property
i. Despite the current decade being called Indias decade of innovation, the country has ranked at
the bottom of the list of 25 countries in terms of its intellectual property (IP) environment.
PINNACLE INSTITUTE
ii. According to a report by the U.S. Chamber of Commerces Global Intellectual Property Center
(GIPC), Indias percentage score has further fallen from 25% in 2012 to 23% in the year 2014.
iii. The continued use of compulsory licenses, patent revocations, and weak legislative and
enforcement mechanisms raise serious concerns about Indias commitment to promote innovation
and protect creators, the report said.

Note: US ranked on the top followed by UK and France. The five BRICS economiesBrazil, Russia,
India, China, and South Africacontinue to face serious challenges.

9. Google is best company to work for: Fortune
i. For the fifth consecutive year, Internet search giant Google has been named as the best company
to work for by Fortune Magazine.
ii. Google has topped the latest list of '100 Best American Companies to Work for' followed by --
software developer SAS and strategy consultants the Boston Consulting Group in the second and
third positions, respectively.
iii. "Google's stock climbed past $1,000 in 2013-a boon for Googlers, all of whom are stockholders,"
Fortune said adding that "Google tops the list once again, marking its eighth appearance and fifth time
as No. 1."
iv. So much so that three winners of Google's annual talent show opened for Bruno Mars at his Las
Vegas show in April at the Global Sales Conference.
v. Among other noted names, Qualcomm was ranked 32 in the list, Goldman Sachs Group (45),
CISCO (55), Marriott International (57), Deloitte (61), PricewaterhouseCoopers (65), American
Express (67), Novo Nordisk (72), Ernst & Young (78), Discovery Communications (79), KPMG (80),
Intel (84), Microsoft (86), Accenture (90) and Hyatt Hotels (95).
vi. To pick the 100 Best Companies to Work For, Fortune partnered with the Great Place to Work
Institute. More than 252,000 employees at those companies were surveyed by the institute.



Read more: http://www.bankersadda.com/2014/01/daily-gk-update-29th-january.html#ixzz2rwk1xzQY
28th January

1. RBI raises policy rate by 0.25 pc to anchor retail inflation
i. Reserve Bank Governor Raghuram Rajan on Tuesday again surprised the
markets and raised the key policy rate by 0.25 per cent to 8 per cent in a bid to curb inflation, a move
that may translate into higher EMIs and push up the cost of borrowing for corporates.
PINNACLE INSTITUTE
ii. "An increase in the policy (repo) rate by 25 basis points is needed to set the economy securely on
the recommended disinflationary path," Rajan said while unveiling the Third Quarter Review of
Monetary Policy.
iii. Consequently, the reverse repo rate under the liquidity adjustment facility will be revised to 7 per
cent and the marginal standing facility rate and bank rate to 9 per cent.
iv. However, the RBI kept the cash reserve ratio unchanged at 4 per cent as liquidity seems to be
comfortable.
v. The Governor said economic growth would be below 5 per cent in the current financial year and
could accelerate in 2014-15 to a mean projection of 5.5 per cent.
vi. The RBI's baseline projections for retail inflation indicate that over the ensuing 12-month horizon,
and with the current policy stance, there are upside risks to the central forecast of 8 per cent.

RBI Current Policy & Reserve Rates:
Repo Rate 8 %
Reverse Repo 7 %
CRR 4%
SLR 23%
MSF 9%
Bank Rate 9%

2. Notes printed before 2005 will remain legal, says RBI
i. India's central bank, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has clarified that the currency notes that were
printed before 2005 will continue to be legal tender.
ii. The central bank said that the move to withdraw banknotes printed prior to
2005 is aimed at pulling off these bank notes from the market.
iii. The central bank pointed out that it is a common global practice to withdraw older series notes.
The central bank said that the notes printed prior 2005 "have fewer security features compared to
banknotes printed after 2005."
iv. The central bank clarified its statement dated January 22 following questions from the banks.
v. The RBI also said on its website that it is already systematically withdrawing these notes from the
market in a routine manner through the banks in the country.
vi. It said that the members of the public can exchange the notes at bank branches as per their
convenience.
vii. Further, even July 1, 2014 onwards, members of public can exchange any number of these old
series notes from the bank branches where they have their accounts," it said in a press statement.

3. Growth likely to slip below 5% in 2013-14: RBI
i. The Reserve Bank on Tuesday said the growth is expected to fall below 5 per cent in 2013-14 in
absence of pick-up in manufacturing sector, but likely to recover to 5.5 per cent in the next financial
year.
ii. The economic growth, it said, could be somewhat lower than the central estimate of 5 per cent.
iii. In the first half of 2013-14, the GDP growth was at 4.6 per cent.
iv. For fiscal 2014-15, there is a case for gradual recovery to the 5-6 per cent band, the RBI said,
giving a central estimate of 5.5 per cent growth.
PINNACLE INSTITUTE
v. The central bank further said if the nearly 130 projects worth over Rs 4 lakh crore cleared by the
Cabinet Committee on Investments translate into investments, global growth improves and inflation
softens, the countrys GDP growth could come in at the higher reaches of the forecast range of 5-6
per cent.
vi. For the fourth quarter, the headline CPI inflation is expected to range between 7.5 and 8.5 per cent
with an upside risk, it added.

4. BSE to launch IRF trading from 20th Jan

i. Leading stock exchange BSE has said live trading in new interest rate futures (IRF), in long tenure
10-year government bonds, will begin on its platform on 20th January.
ii. The exchange has already received the approval of market regulator Securities and Exchange
Board of India (Sebi) for launching IRFs.
iii. Besides, NSE will begin live trading in the IRF on 21st January, while MCX-SX said it will also go
live this month without giving an exact date.
iv. The product would benefit banks, brokerage houses, insurance companies and primary dealers,
among others.
v. The market regulator had said IRF are being introduced on a pilot basis and the product features
would be reviewed based on the experience gained.
vi. An IRF is generally a contract between a buyer and a seller agreeing to the future delivery of any
interest-bearing asset such as government bonds.
vii. Earlier last month, the market regulator had permitted the stock exchanges to introduce cash-
settled IRFs on 10-year government bonds, which has been a long pending demand of capital market
participants.

5. Google purchased DeepMind Technologies of UK
i. Google purchased the British start-up DeepMind Technologies an artificial intelligence company
on 27 January 2014.
ii. The American tech giant Google confirmed the deal in its London office. This deal represents
Googles biggest ever single acquisition in Europe.
iii. The acquisition of DeepMind would prove to be helpful for Google in further developing its most
recent Hummingbird search update.
iv. The Hummingbird search update was created to make Google more human and searches which
can now understand context like a human brain.

About DeepMind Technologies:
i. The artificial intelligence company DeepMind Technologies was founded by Demis Hassabis,
neuroscientist and computer genius together with Shane Legg and Mustafa Suleyman in London.
ii. Artificial intelligence uses computers for tasks normally requiring human intelligence, like speech
recognition or language translation.

6. Meena appointed as Secretary Security
i. H C Meena has been appointed as the Secretary Security in the Cabinet Secretariat on 24 January
2014.
ii. Meena will hold the post till his superannuation on 30 September 2014.
iii. Meena an Indian Police Service (IPS) officer of the 1976 batch has served as the director general
in Rajasthan.

PINNACLE INSTITUTE
About Secretary Security
Secretary Security is a nodal authority in respect of policy relating to procurement of jammers by the
State Governments and Central Police Forces.
Secretary Security is an administrative head of the Special Protection Group (SPG) and is
responsible for closely monitoring the security arrangements for the Prime Minister and former Prime
Ministers in India as well as abroad.

7. India ranked 155th in global Environment Performance Index
i. The Environmental Performance Index (EPI) 2014 was released on 25 January 2014. As per the
Index, India was ranked 155 out of 178 countries with an index score of 31.23 points in its efforts to
address environmental challenges.
ii. India was ranked behind neighbouring countries China at 118, Pakistan at 148 and Nepal at 139
respectively.
iii. Among the BRICS countries, South Africa was placed at 72nd position, followed by Russia (73),
Brazil (77) and China (118).
iv. EPI ranks how well countries perform on high-priority environmental issues mainly in the areas of
protection of human health from environmental harm and protection of ecosystems.

8. Queen Latifah won 2014 Matrix Award
i. Rapper-turned-actress Queen Latifah won the 2014 Matrix Award on 25 January 2014.
ii. New York Women in Communications presented the 2014 Matrix Awards to honor seven
remarkable women who have changed the world, through their work in the communications industry.

About Matrix Award
i. The Matrix Awards is recognized by the communications and entertainment communities as one of
the most outstanding and prestigious events of the year.
ii. The Matrix Awards are given by New York Women in Communications to honour females who
change the world.

About Queen Latifah
Dana Elaine Owens, better known by her stage name Queen Latifah, is an American singer-
songwriter, rapper, model, comedienne, television producer, record producer, actress, and talk show
hostess. She has long been considered one of hip-hop's pioneer feminists.

26-27 JAN
1. PAN allotment process to undergo change from 3 February 2014
i. PAN (Permanent Account Number) allotment process will undergo a change from 3 February 2014.
ii. The official release mentioned that an applicant of PAN will have to submit self-attested copies of Proof of
Identity (POI), Proof of Address (POA) and Date of Birth (DOB) documents. The applicant will also have to
produce the original documents for verification at the counter of PAN facilitation centres.
iii. The notification also said that the POI, POA and DOB documents attached with the application PAN form will
be verified with their original documents at the time of application submission. It also said that the original
documents will not be retained by the PAN Facilitation centre and will be returned back to the applicant as soon
as it is verified.


3. Wawrinka stuns injured Nadal to win Aussie Open
PINNACLE INSTITUTE

i. Switzerland's Stanislas Wawrinka claimed his first Grand Slam title in dramatic fashion on Sunday when he
upset injury-troubled world number one Rafael Nadal in the Australian Open final.
ii. The eighth seed roared through the first two sets and overcame the distraction of a back injury to Nadal, and
then the loss of the third set, to take it 6-3, 6-2, 3-6, 6-3 in two hours 21 minutes.
iii. Nadal, who was chasing his 14th major title, looked as if might pull out with the back injury but he fought back
to take the third set and force the match into a fourth set.
iv. It was a stunning win for Wawrinka, who had not beaten Nadal in their previous 12 matches as he rallied to
win the fourth set and take the championship.

5. Sania wins Syed Modi International

i. India ace shuttler Saina Nehwal has snapped her 15 months title drought, clinching the Syed Modi International
India Grand Prix Gold badminton crown with a straight-game victory over compatriot P V Sindhu in the women's
singles competition in Lucknow on Sunday.
ii. The London Olympics bronze medallist staved off the challenge from Sindhu 21-14 21-17 in the women's
singles summit clash, which lasted 40 minutes at the Babu Banarasi Das Indoor Stadium in Lucknow.
iii. The two-time champion was tested by her younger colleague but Saina kept her nerve to eventually break a
15-month title drought after appearing in her 22nd final of her international career.
iv. Saina had been battling a poor form and injury issues for more than a year now, which saw her slip to world
number nine this week from ranked second.
v. This win has helped her earn 7000 points and will also allow her to climb the ranking ladder.

9. Ela Gandhi honoured with Amadelkufa in South Africa
i. Ela Gandhi, the granddaughter of Mahatma Gandhi was honoured with Amadelkufa in South Africa on 26
January 2014. She was honoured for her lifetime contribution to the freedom struggle of South Africa. Amdelkufa
in Zulu language means Sacrifice.
ii. She formed the trio of Indian-origin South Africans along with Sunny Singh and Mac Maharaj. These three
played an active role in the Umkhonto we Sizwe (Spear of the Nation). The Umkhonto we Sizwe was the armed
struggle wing of the African National Congress.

25 JAN
1. Australia Open: Li Na becomes first Chinese woman to clinch title
PINNACLE INSTITUTE

i. Li Na made it third time lucky in the Australian Open final, beating Dominika Cibulkova 76 (3), 60 on
Saturday to become the oldest woman to clinch the title in the Open era.
ii. Li, who turns 32 next month, lost Australian Open finals to Kim Clijsters in 2011 and Victoria Azarenka last
year. In between, she won the 2011 French Open to become the first Chinese woman to win a major.
iii. In both her previous Australian Open appearances, Li won the first set but went down in three. Against
Azarenka last year, she stumbled and twisted her ankle, and needed a medical timeout after hitting her head on
the court.
iv. She had no such trouble against No. 20-seeded Cibulkova, going on a roll to win the last eight games.

3. India Posts to start rolling out ATMs from February
i. In anticipation of getting a banking licence from the Reserve Bank of India, the
Department of Posts will roll out its own ATMs, with the first of them set to be functional on February 5 across
three cities.
ii. The first of the ATMs would be rolled out simultaneously in New Delhi, Chennai and Bangalore, Kapil Sibal,
Minister for Communications and IT, said, after inaugurating a data centre for the postal department.
iii. Following which, the postal department is planning to rollout 3,000 ATMs. About 1,000 machines would be
introduced in the first year. The remaining 2,000 would be rolled out within six months to one year after the initial
phase of rollout.

4. Vakrangee gets white-label ATM licence
i. Vakrangee Ltd has received the Reserve Bank of Indias final authorisation of the White Label ATM licence.
ii. Under this licence, Vakrangee is entitled to set up and run minimum 15,000 ATMs across the country in the
next three years, sources close to the development said.
iii. White-label ATMs are those which are not run by the banks but by a non-banking entity in its own brand name
(like Vakrangee ATM) after passing through all the stringent qualification and due-diligence process undertaken
by the RBI.
iv. These ATMs will have all the functionalities like that of a bank-run ATMs.
v. For the ATM business, Vakrangee will focus more towards sub Tier-III towns with huge potential.
vi. The White-Label ATM business is a strategic fit for Vakrangees current business of rural bank branch
management wherein brick and mortar bank branches (as common business correspondents) are set up by this
company for the public sector banks.

5. Scientist Mashelkar, yoga guru Iyengar get Padma Bhushan, cricketer Yuvraj gets Padma Shri
i. Renowened scientist R.A. Mashelkar, yoga guru B.K.S. Iyengar, actors Vidya Balan and Paresh Rawal,
sportspersons Yuvraj Singh, P. Gopichand and Dipika Pallikal are among the personalities who have been
awarded the Padma awards ahead of the Republic Day.
ii. While Mashelkar and Iyengar have been conferred with Padma Bhushan, actors Balan and Rawal have been
awarded the Padma Shri awards
iii. Cricketer Yuvraj Singh, ace shuttler Gopichand and squash player Pallikkal have got Padma Shri awards.
Dipika recently entered the top 10 in the WSA rankings, the official women's squash world rankings.

Note:The Padma awards, India's highest civilian honours, are given in three categories: Padma Vibhushan,
Padma Bhushan and Padma Shri and announced on the occasion of Republic Day every year.
PINNACLE INSTITUTE

6. Japanese PM Shinzo Abe arrives in New Delhi

i. Japanese PM Shinzo Abe, who will be chief guest at this year's Republic day Parade, arrived here on a three-
day official trip to India.
ii. Abe, accompanied by his wife Mrs Akie Abe, is visiting India on the invitation of PM Manmohan Singh.
iii. During his three-day trip (25 -27 Jan), Abe is scheduled to hold talks with PM Manmohan Singh for the Annual
Summit between India and Japan.
iv. The delegation-level talks between the two PMs is expected to cover economic issues, and international
topics like Afghanistan and UN reforms, said reports.

7. French First Lady visits India
i. French First Lady Valerie Trierweiler will make her first public appearance
since it emerged President Francois Hollande was cheating on her with an actress, with a trip to India next week
for charity work.
ii. Trierweiler was hospitalised for a week after news broke of Hollande's affair with 41-year-old French actress
Julie Gayet, and has since been holed up in a presidential retreat outside Paris as her future remains unclear.
iii. She will visit Mumbai for two days from Monday on a trip organised by French relief organisation Action
Against Hunger (ACF) which had been planned long in advance.
iv. In Mumbai, Trierweiler will visit a hospital where ACF has a feeding project for malnourished children and
witness a training programme for medical staff.
v. She will be shown around the city by French actress Charlotte Valandrey, who is involved in the cause of
promoting organ donations and transplants.

8. Dr. Tej Vir Singh won the UNWTO Ulysses Prize
i. Dr. Tej Vir Singh from Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh won the 2013 UNWTO Ulysses Prize for Excellence in the
Creation and Dissemination of Knowledge on 22 January 2014.
ii. Dr.Singh is the professor and Founding Director of the Centre for Tourism Research & Development (CTRD) in
India.
iii. Dr. Singh started the first Himalayan tourism training course, as the Founding Director of the Institute of
Himalayan Studies and Regional Development at the University of Garhwal.

About UNWTO Ulysses Prize
The UNWTO Ulysses Prize is given to a distinguished scholar, whether in academia, government or private
industry, for outstanding contributions to innovation and knowledge in tourism.

12. Richard Quest won 2013 UNWTO Lifetime Achievement Award
i. UNWTO awarded CNNs Richard Quest the 2013 UNWTO Award for Lifetime Achievement on 22 January
2014.
ii. The UNWTO Award for Lifetime Achievement was presented during the UNWTO Awards Ceremony held in
Madrid, Spain.
iii. The Award recognizes Mr. Quests reporting across the globe on CNN, which has showcased the challenges
and successes of the tourism industry - raising it into the mainstream of the international agenda.

PINNACLE INSTITUTE
About UNWTO Lifetime Achievement Award
The UNWTO Award for Lifetime Achievement is conferred to recognize a lifetime achievement of individuals with
visionary leadership and significant contribution throughout the nominees career as an inspirational role model
for the development at the local, national, regional or international level.

24 JAN
3. Economic growth in India projected at 5.35% in 2014, says UN report
i. India's economy is projected to grow at a slower-than-expected rate of 5.3 per cent this year, according to a
United Nations report which said the country's slowdown may have bottomed out.
ii. The UN World Economic Situation and Prospects 2014 (WESP) report said a mild recovery in investment as
well as stronger export growth will help in the gradual GDP pick-up.
iii. Full-year growth decelerated to 4.8 per cent in 2013 from 5.1 per cent in the calendar year 2012.
iv. The report further said that global economic growth is expected to increase over the next two years with
continuing signs of improvement.
v. The global economy is projected to grow at a pace of 3 per cent in 2014 and 3.3 per cent in 2015, compared to
an estimated growth of 2.1 per cent in 2013.

5. SBI launches Youtube channel; Twitter handle next
i. Nation's largest lender State Bank of India on Friday strengthened its social media presence with the launch of
its channel on popular video sharing website Youtube and said it will also be launching its handle on the micro-
blogging site Twitter soon.
ii. The YouTube channel is another platform that will enable us to connect with our customers. SBI will continue
to spread its footprint on social media through the launch of platforms like Twitter, shortly," Chairperson Arundhati
Bhattacharya said in a statement.
iii. SBI, which controls around a fourth of the deposits in the system, is one of the oldest financial institutions in
the country with an over 200 years of history.
iv. It has over 15,000 branches and over 43,000 ATMs. The bank statement said the Youtube channel will help it
connect with the young and technologically savvy customers.

6. Favour free ATM services: Finance Services Secretary Takru
i. Financial services secretary Rajiv Takru has said that he favours free ATM services as they exist now.
ii. Speaking to reporters in Mumbai on Thursday, Mr. Takru said that if these
services are made expensive then customers may end up at bank counters and warned that a teller service is far
more expensive than ATM service.
iii. He however clarified that no bank has approached the government seeking approval to raise ATM fees and
said that a final decision in this regard will be taken by RBI.
iii. Admitting that ATM services should be sustainable, Mr. Takru said banks should look at ways to encourage
customers to increase their ATM usage so as to make them profitable. Mr. Takru also called for a re-look at
orders of some state governments asking banks to have round-the-clock security at ATMs.

7. Kerala wins UN award for sustainable tourism
PINNACLE INSTITUTE

i. Kerala Tourism has been conferred the United Nations Award for creating innovative initiatives for sustainable
tourism, the first time India has ever won the recognition.
ii. The state lifted the coveted honour for its sustainable development initiative in the world renowned backwater
resort of Kumarakom, a Kerala tourism release said on Thursday.
iii. Kerala Tourism bagged the honour at the annual United Nations World Tourism Organisation (UNWTO)
Awards for Excellence and Innovation in Tourism presented at Madrid in Spain.
iv. Kerala won the UNWTO Ulysses Award for Innovation in Public Policy and Governance, the highest honour
given to the government bodies for shaping global tourism policies through innovative initiatives.
v. Instituted in 2003 by UNWTO, the United Nations agency for the promotion of responsible, sustainable and
universally accessible tourism, the UNWTO Awards showcase innovation and application of knowledge in
tourism with the aim of effecting governance and society.

8. Railways earmark berth for security escort in trains with sleepers
i. The Railways has decided to earmark berth no. 71 in coach S-1 in all the trains having security escort.
ii. A Railway official said that the idea of having a dedicated berth for the security personnel is to help passengers
to locate them easily in case of emergency. He said, trains which are devoid of sleepers will not have this facility.
iii. There are 3,475 trains which are provided with the escort of Railway Protection Force and Government
Railway Police ensure security for passengers.

10. Cumbria University of UK became the first public university to accept fees in Bitcoin
i. Cumbria University of UK became the first public university to accept fees in digital currency, Bitcoin. A system
for processing the payments is already operational.
ii. The payment of fees through Bitcoin will be only applicable to two new courses on the roles of complimentary
currencies in economic systems, which will be taught from summer this year at the Institute for Leadership and
Sustainability (IFLAS).
iii. Cumbria is thought to be the first public university in the world to accept the currency, although a private
University in Cyprus announced last year that it would do so.

12. India and France jointly building 3rd satellite
i. India and France are working on building the third Indo-French satellite designed for climate change studies, a
senior French official said on Thursday.
ii. The new satellite being built jointly by Indian Space Research Organisation and National Centre for Space
Studies (CNES) of France would be a state-of-the-art satellite for earth observation for climate change, Weiss
said.
iii. The final shape to the proposed project is scheduled to be given by next March when Indian and French
scientists will hold a "big" meeting in France, Weiss said.
iv. India is the one of the most important countries of cooperation for France. Both countries have plenty of things
to do together," he added.

23 JAN

3. ADBs $400-m credit for IIFCL
PINNACLE INSTITUTE
i. Asian Development Bank (ADB) has provided $400 million first tranche line of credit to India Infrastructure
Finance Company Ltd (IIFCL) to help accelerate infrastructure growth through increased private sector
investment.
ii. State-owned IIFCL will have two years to utilise this limit and the line of credit would be used to advance direct
loans as well as take-out bank loans.
iii. The first loan is part of the ADB-approved $700-million accelerating infrastructure investment facility in India
multi-tranche financing facility designed for IIFCL.
iv. The loan agreement for the first tranche was signed by Nilaya Mitash, Joint Secretary in the Finance Ministry,
and Narahari Rao, Officer-in-charge of ADBs India Resident Mission. Sanjeev Ghai, Chief General Manager,
IIFCL, signed the project agreement.

First tranche
This first tranche comes with a tenure of 19 and a half years at competitive cost, which is a small mark-up over
Libor.
5. Ansari launches book 'Resurgent India: Glimpses of Rajiv Gandhi Vision of India'(Re-issue)
i. 'Resurgent India: Glimpses of Rajiv Gandhi's Vision of India' was launched by Vice President Hamid Ansari in
Delhi.
ii. Speaking about the book, 'Resurgent India's author and former Lok Sabha Secretary General P.D.T Acharya
said on Wednesday: "Rajiv Gandhi is perhaps one of the most misunderstood prime ministers in Indian history.
iii. It is important to understand the heart and mind of one of the nation's most influential leaders to understand
his ambitious policies in their entirety."
iv. The main theme of 'Resurgent India' is an objective evaluation of Rajiv Gandhi's contributions to the nation.

9. Garuda Vasudha Advanced Light Helicopter of Geological Survey of India launched
i. Minister of Mines, Dinsha Patel launched the Advanced Light Helicopter named Garuda Vasudha of Geological
Survey of India from the Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd (HAL), Bangalore on 23 January 2014.
ii. The Garuda Vasudha a Dhruv category built by HAL dedicated to the nation.
iii. The Ministry also laid the foundation stone of a Centre of Excellence Laboratory building of GSI at Bangalore,
worth of 42 crore.
iv. Garuda Vasudha is used for extensive surveys by the GSI for locating hidden mineral health.
v. Remote Sensing and Aerial Survey Wing of Geological Survey of India will be using both the aerial and
heliborne survey together to locate mineral resources which will fulfill the rising demands.

22 JAN
1. Japanese PM to be chief guest at Indias Republic Day celebrations
i. The Japanese Prime Minister will be paying a three-day official visit to India beginning
on January 25 at the invitation of his Indian counterpart Manmohan Singh.
ii. During his visit, Abe will meet Manmohan Singh for the annual summit between India and Japan. The
discussions between the two leaders will add substance and content to the India-Japan strategic and global
partnership.
iii. The visiting dignitary, who will be accompanied by his wife Akie Abe during the visit, will also call on President
Pranab Mukherjee.
PINNACLE INSTITUTE
iv. The country will celebrate its 65th Republic Day on January 26 when President Pranab Mukherjee will take
salute from the contingents of the armed forces and paramilitary forces alongside a rich display of its culture and
heritage.

3. Sharif approves MoU with India on electricity trade

i. Energy-starved Pakistan is looking at buying electricity from India, with Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif approving
such a deal.
ii. A senior Pakistani official said the Cabinet approved the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU)
during its meeting on Monday.
iii. The issue of electricity trade had come up for discussion during the meeting between Commerce Minister
Anand Sharma and Chief Minister of Punjab Shahbaz Sharif during his visit to India last month
iv. India has expressed its intent to export electricity to the tune of 500 MW to Pakistan immediately if
infrastructure for transmission of power is made available.

5. T. Nanda Kumar to be appointed NDDB Chairman
i. T. Nanda Kumar will be the new Chairman of the National Dairy Development Board (NDDB), replacing Amrita
Patel who has been holding the post since 1998.
ii. Nanda Kumar, currently Member of the National Disaster Management Authority, is slated to take over from
March 1.
iii. His name has been cleared by the Appointments Committee of the Cabinet headed by the Prime Minister.
Patel is currently on extension and will remain as Chairman till February 28.

8. First Climate Change theatre opened in Punjab
i. First Climate Change theatre was opened at Pushpa Gujral Science City in Kapurthala, Punjab.. The theatre
will educate people on climate change. This is the second theatre in the world to be opened after Canada.
ii. The theatre is 18 metre in diameter and it is set up in a dome-shaped building with a seating capacity of 125
persons. The 25-minute film shows what worst can happen if humans do not take action on current or impending
problems which could threaten civilization.

9. India-born Stanford professor awarded Marconi Society Prize
i. Coimbatore-born scientist and Stanford University Emeritus Professor Arogya Swami Joseph Paulraj has
been awarded the prestigious 2014 Marconi Society Prize.
ii. Paulraj is the only India-born scientist to receive both the Marconi Prize and the Bell Medal, two top global IT
technology awards.
iii. Further, he was awarded $100,000 prize, for his invention and advancement of MIMO (Multiple Input Multiple
Output) technology, which is at the heart of WiFi and 4G technologies that millions worldwide use.
iv. The Marconi Prize comes three years after Paulraj was honoured with the other major telecom technology
award the IEEE Alexander Graham Bell Medal for his work on theoretical foundations of MIMO.

21 JAN
1. Sudhir Gupta is new TRAI Secretary
i. Telecom regulator TRAI today got a new Secretary, Sudhir Gupta, ahead of it releasing the final guidelines of
spectrum trading and auction of CDMA radio waves.
ii. Gupta, a principal adviser with TRAI, has been elevated to the post of Secretary.
PINNACLE INSTITUTE
iii. In the past 10 years at TRAI, Gupta has played a key role in almost all the key regulations, recommendations
and directions. This include mobile number portability regulation, rules to curb pesky calls, quality of service
standards.
iv. He has been responsible for formulating recommendations related to spectrum auctions, 3G and later BWA
spectrum auctions. These two had helped government garner over Rs 1 lakh crore.

3. Amul launches Indias first milk ATM

i. Automatic teller machines not only dispense money, ATM-like machines also vend other products such as
chocolates and soft drinks. But Amul has gone a step further: it will now sell milk through Any Time Milk
vending machines.
ii. The pilot project of this 24x7 ATM began with the installation of a vending machine at the gate of Amul Dairy in
Anand town of Gujarat on Sunday.
iii. To start with, we plan to set up these ATMs at each of the 1,100 mandalis (village-level milk collection
centres) in Kheda and Anand districts where we market Amul, Ramsinh Parmar, Chairman, Kheda District Milk
Producers Union, popularly known as Amul Dairy.
iv. For a Rs 10-currency note, which this machine will read through a sensor, the ATM would dispense a 300 ml
pouch of Amul Taaza milk.
v. The ATM, fitted with refrigeration facility, has a capacity to hold 150 pouches at a time.

7. It professionals launch new education website
i. A group of young IT professionals has launched a new software-based website intending to enhance the quality
of the education system and to enrich campus life in an innovative way. (http://www.backyard.in) is an online
educational cum social networking service like Facebook.
ii. It will help everyone in an educational institution- including the principal, administrators, faculties and students
in enhancing the quality of education and the software will tie the whole college in a logical thread, Sarathi
Sabyasachi Sahoo, the leader of the group, said.
iii. Sahoo, an IT professional who worked with Yahoo for five years said: We have taken 40 technical and
management colleges and two colleges in the city into consideration at the initial stage.
iv. Before developing the software, a survey was conducted by our team members in various technical colleges
in the city and we got a good response to the idea.
v. The software has the module to manage the hall of fame, notice board, library management and in the admin
part.
vi. Various feature of this website include advance search bar, genuine id for students, user friendly interface,
performance graph for students in terms of subjects, latest news update on the dashboard, question and answer
section (where a student can ask any question on any subject under the courses of study and this can be
answered by the concerned teacher or any other student).
vii. The website also provides facilities like in-built chat and message, unlimited photo upload and information
about the college events, news and holidays, he said.

8. Jains granted minority status
PINNACLE INSTITUTE

i. The Jain community was accorded minority status by the central government on Monday, which will enable
them to avail of benefits in government schemes and programmes.
ii. The decision to grant minority status to the community of about 50 lakh was taken at a meeting of Union
Cabinet in New Delhi on Monday, a day after Congress Vice President Rahul Gandhi took up this issue with
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.
iii. The Jains became the sixth community to have minority status after Muslims, Christians, Sikhs, Buddhists
and Parsis.
iv. Once recognised as a minority, Jains would get a share in central funds earmarked for welfare programmes
and scholarships for the minorities. They can also manage and administer their own educational institutions.
v. Under Section 2 (c) of National Commission for Minorities (NCM) Act, 1992, five religious communities --
Muslims, Christians, Sikhs, Buddhists and Parsis are declared as minority communities through a government
notification issued in October 1993.

9. Jind and Karnal becomes part of NCR zone
i. The National Capital Region Planning Board, NCRPB, has approved the inclusion of Jind and Karnal districts of
Haryana in the National Capital Region, NCR.
ii. An official release said, the approval was given by the 34th meeting of NCRPB which was held in New Delhi
on Monday under the chairmanship of Urban Development Minister Kamal Nath.

19-20 JAN

2. Cyrus Mistry wins DSC Prize for 2014
i. Reticent author Cyrus Mistry on Saturday beat off stiff competition from five other
writers to become the fourth winner of the $50,000 DSC prize for South Asian literature on Saturday for his book
Chronicles of a Corpse Bearer.
ii. The prize, is given to the best work or translations of a work on or about the South Asian region.
iii. Mr. Mistrys book is a story of marginalised community and looks at larger questions about life and death,
which makes it a different read.
iv. Last year the award was won by Jeet Thayil for his debut debut novel Narcopolis. Mr. Mistry was presented
with the award at a ceremony at the Jaipur Literature Festival here this evening by Gloria Steinem.

3. National Urban Health Mission launched in Bangalore
i. Union Minister for Health and Family Welfare Gulam Nabi Azad launched the National Urban Health Mission in
Bangalore today.
PINNACLE INSTITUTE
ii. The programme aims at providing health security to urban poor. It envisages creation of necessary health
check up infrastructure and the manpower requirement.
iii. Central Government will share 80 per cent of the cost to implement the programme. All the 779 urban areas
with over 50,000 population in the country will be covered under the programme by March 2015.
iv. Around 20 crore people in urban areas will have access to free health care, with the launch of this
programme.

4. Afghanistan likely to join WTO within next three months
i. Afghanistan is likely to join the World Trade Organization (WTO) within the next three months.
ii. According to Afghan Commerce and Industries Ministry the government of Afghanistan has already signed a
trade agreement with the United States and now it has to sign agreements with the European Union and two
other countries before becoming a member of the World Trade Organization.
iii. Out of the eight negotiating members of the WTO, Afghanistan is required to sign bilateral trade agreements
and the negotiations are going on with the European Union, Turkey and Taiwan in this regard.
iv. If Afghanistan becomes a member of the World Trade Organization, the trade, commerce and investment in
the country is likely to go up in coming years. It will also provide Afghan businessmen and industrialists to
improve the quality of their product by adopting quality control measure.

About WTO :
i. The World Trade Organization (WTO) is a global international organization dealing with the rules of trade
between nations.
ii. It functions on the basis of negotiated agreements between the trading nations and ratified in their parliaments.
Currently 160 nations of the world are members of the WTO.
iii. WTO headquarter is in GENEVA.

5. Air India likely to join Star Alliance in summer

i. Air India should join Star Alliance, a global network of airlines by this summer, Star Alliance Chief Executive
Officer Mark F. Schwab has said.
ii. Air India was invited to join the global airline alliance once again in December last year following a meeting of
the chief executives of the various airlines who are members of Star Alliance in Vienna.
iii. The airline has gone through a difficult merger and has now started executing a fleet renewal plan. Our job in
Star Alliance is to create connectivity, Schwab had said late on Sunday night on Air India joining the Alliance.

8. India successfully test-fired nuclear-capable surface-to-surface Agni-IV missile
i. India on 20 January 2014 test-fired nuclear-capable surface-to-surface Agni-IV missile with a
range of 4000 kilometers from Wheeler Island in Dhamra of Odisha Coast.
ii. The missile was launched from the launch complex number 4 of Integrated Test Range (ITR) of Wheeler
Island.
PINNACLE INSTITUTE
iii. DRDO conducted the test-firing today at the Integrated Test Range on the Wheeler Island.

About Agni-IV
i. It is the fourth missile in the series of Agni missiles. It was earlier known as Agni-II prime
ii. In missile technology, Agni represents a quantum leap of its own type
iii. With light weight, the missile has two stages of solid propulsion and a payload with re-entry heat shield
iv. Earlier, the missile has been tested three times
v. Agni-IV was developed by Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO)
vi. It is 20 meters in length weighs 17 tonnes and carries a pay load of one tonne .


12. Netherlands Wins maiden Hero Hockey World League title
i. The Netherlands won Hockey World League Final beating New Zealand 7-2 in New Delhi. Constantijn Jonker
slammed a hat-trick to help the Netherlands lift the inaugural title at the Major Dhyan Chand National Stadium
last night.
ii. England won the bronze medal by defeating world champions Australia 2-1 in a hard-fought third-fourth
place match.
iii. Belgium retained its fifth place, while India secured sixth place.

18 JAN
1.India, Pakistan agree to allow 24x7 trade through Wagah border
i. In a major decision that could smoothen trade between India and Pakistan, the two have decided to open
theWagah-Attari border for trade 24X7 and allow containers to be moved right up to Amritsar and Lahore instead
of being unloaded at the check-post and re-loaded on the other side.

ii. In a meeting between Commerce Ministers from both countries on Saturday, it was decided to re-start the
trade liberalisation process stalled for 16 months and work towards non-discriminatory market access on a
reciprocalbasis.
iii. At present, bilateral trade between India and Pakistan is a little over $3 billion annually, but both sides are
hopeful that trade would go up several times as a result of the trade liberalisation process. iv. India has also
agreed to look into the process of liberalising issue of visas to Pakistani businesspersons both bilaterally and
under the South Asia Free Trade Agreement.
v. India and Pakistan had started negotiations to normalise trade ties in January 2011 and had made several
concessions for each other before the talks came to an abrupt halt due to violence across the Line of Control.
vi. India, too, has to extend lower tariffs to Pakistan that it offers other South Asian countries on key products
such as textiles.

2.India, S Korea ink 9 pacts; Posco plant work to start soon
i. In a bid to give new momentum to bilateral ties, India and South Korea have decided to intensify cooperation
in a range of key sectors including trade, investment and defence even as PM Manmohan Singh announced that
the work on the long-delayed Posco steel plant will start in coming weeks.
ii. Nine pacts in wide-ranging fields including cyber space cooperation were inked after the talks between Singh
and South Korean President Park Geun-hye during which both leaders discussed ways to promote bilateral
relations and exchanged views on a number of regional and international issues.
iii. After the talks, Singh said negotiations for revision of the existing Double Taxation Avoidance Convention
have concluded.
iv. During the talks, both the sides recognised the possibility of defence trade and joint production of military
equipment by further promoting collaboration between our defence research organisations.
v. On the MoU on Joint Applied Research, which was inked after the Summit-level talks, Singh said it will enable
the scientists of the two countries to work together and develop technologies for our common benefit.

6. RBI to buy G-Secs on Jan 22
i. The Reserve Bank has decided to conduct Open Market Operations (OMO) by purchasing four government
securities for an aggregate amount of Rs 10,000 crore on January 22.
PINNACLE INSTITUTE
ii. The OMO is being conducted as, according to the RBI, the current assessment suggests that the strain on
market liquidity is likely to endure in view of the fiscal targets set for the year as well as projections for
aggregate credit growth, warranting the need to provide liquidity of a more permanent nature.
iii. The RBI said it will be conducting OMO by purchasing four G-Secs that is, government security (GS)
maturing in 2017 (July) and carrying coupon rate of 8.07 per cent; 7.28 per cent GS 2019; 7.16 per cent GS
2023; and 8.28 per cent GS 2027 aggregating Rs 10,000 crore.

7. BoM launches savings bank deposit scheme
i. Bank of Maharashtra has launched a savings bank deposit scheme Mahabank Royal Savings Account
exclusively for high net worth Individuals having a minimum monthly average balance (MAB) of Rs 1 lakh in their
account.
ii. The slew of benefits offered to the accountholder under the product includes assistance of a relationship
manager, free accident death insurance cover (Rs 50 lakh personal air accident death insurance and Rs 10 lakh
personal accidental death insurance), higher transaction limit on ATM-cum-debit card on merchant point of sale
terminals, and free national electronic funds transfer/real time gross system transactions through
Internet banking, the bank said in a statement.
iii. Other benefits to the account holders include 50 per cent concession in the processing fees of all retail
loans, 100 free personalised cheque leaves per annum, 50 per cent concession on annual maintenance charge
of BoM SBI co-branded Gold Credit Card, and free demat account facility for the first year.

8. Actor Mithun Chakraborty to be nominated to Rajya Sabha
i. Actor Mithun Chakraborty will be nominated to the Rajya Sabha on a Trinamool Congress ticket.
ii. Shri Chakraborty is a well-known film personality. He has devoted his life to the cause of cultural and social
activities with great success. He is an asset not only for West Bengal, but also to the entire country.
iii. Chakraborty won the National Film Award for best actor twice in 1976 for Mrigaya and in 1996 for
Tahader Katha. He also won the National Film Award for Best Supporting Actor in 1998 for Swami Vivekananda.

17 JAN

6. RBI included Hong Kong and Macau in the sensitive list
i. The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) included Hong Kong and Macau in the sensitive list of countries along with
Pakistan and China on 15 January 2014.
ii. Macau and Hong Kong are two Special Administrative Regions controlled by China.
iii. This means that establishments from Hong Kong and Macau will require prior approval of RBI for setting up
business or related activities in India. The activities include establishment of liaison, branch, project offices or any
other place of business.
iv. Pakistan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Afghanistan, Iran and China are already included in the sensitive list.

8. Yushi, Taiwanese poet awarded Thiruvalluvar award
i. Taiwanese poet Yushi was awarded the Thiruvalluvar award on 15 January 2014 by the Tamil Nadu
government in Chennai. Yushi is the first foreign scholar to receive Thiruvalluvar award.
ii. The award was given to Yushi on the occasion of Thiruvalluvar Day. The award was given to him in recognition
of his contribution to the Tamil language. Yushi has translated Tirukkural (one of the collection of sangam
literature), the poems of poet Subramanya Bharathi and poet Bharathidasan in Mandarin, Chinese language.
iii. Yushi is the founder president of the Tamil Sangam in Taiwan. In 2004 he received the highest honour award
by Seoul World Academy of Arts and Culture.

10. BMB ties up with SBI Cards

PINNACLE INSTITUTE
i. Bharatiya Mahila Bank (BMB) and SBI Cards have joined hands for roll-out of credit cards to customers of
Indias first women-focused commercial bank.
ii. This will be the first instance of a public sector bank promoting a white-label credit card issued by SBI Cards.
iii. Under this arrangement, SBI Cards will issue and process the credit cards as white-label cards, allowing BMB
to brand the cards as their own without having to invest in infrastructure.
iv. A white-label card does not carry the brand of the issuer (SBI Cards) on its face. It will only in this case carry
the brand of BMB.
v. The agreement was signed by Usha Ananthasubramanian, Chairman and Managing Director, BMB, and
Pallav Mohapatra, CEO, SBI Cards, here on Thursday.

16 JAN
1. Arunachal Pradesh witnessed the first trial run of rail engine
i. Arunachal Pradesh witnessed the first trial run of a rail engine on 15 January 2014. The first trial run was of 20-
km from Harmutty in Lakhimpur district of Assam to the Arunachal Pradesh capital Itanagar.
ii. The State government would put a mechanism in place for checking the inner line permit (ILP) of the
passengers. The ILP issued under the Bengal Eastern Frontier Regulation, 1973 is necessary even for an Indian
citizen to enter Arunachal Pradesh, Mizoram and Nagaland.
iii. Arunachal Pradesh has also demanded the construction of 161-km Tinsukia Parsuram Kund rail line to help
tourists from all over India to put the holy place in global tourism map.


4. RBI may keep policy rates steady in Jan review: Report
i. The Reserve Bank of India may keep the interest rates steady in its monetary policy review later this month
and a rate cut is likely only in the next financial year, according to an SBI research report.
ii. With inflation easing, industry has clamoured for a reduction in interest rates. However, according to SBI, the
central bank may keep the rates on hold at its quarterly monetary policy scheduled on January 28.

WPI inflation
Prices as measured by the Wholesale Price Index, gained at the slowest pace since July 2013, when the inflation
was 5.8 per cent. In November, the WPI inflation increased 7.52 per cent, the fastest pace in 14 months.

SBI said that the WPI inflation may settle at about 6 per cent and the Consumer Price Index inflation at about 9
per cent by February.

CPI inflation
CPI inflation of less than 9 per cent is a possibility if the WPI inflation contracts at a faster pace and as the
election season gets closer.

5. Posco steel plant to be operational in few weeks: Manmohan
i. The much-delayed $ 12 billion Posco steel project in Odisha is set to be operational in the next few weeks and
granting of mining concession to the South Korean firm was in an advanced stage of processing, Prime Minister
Manmohan Singh said on Thursday.
ii. Dr. Singh made the announcement after holding extensive talks with President of South Korea Park Geun-hye
in New Delhi.
iii. The South Korean President expressed happiness over clearances given to the project and hoped that the
economic ties between the two countries will witness further growth.
iv. The Posco project, the biggest foreign direct investment (FDI) to India, was marred in controversies and
issues like land acquisition and delay in clearances since its announcement in 2005.

6. Spain No. 1 in unchanged top 25 in FIFA rankings
i. World and European champion Spain remains No. 1 in an unchanged top 25 in the FIFA world rankings after a
month in which only 18 international friendlies were played.
ii. Egypt made the biggest move, rising 10 places to No. 31 as older results dropped in value in the four-year
cycle of matches used for the calculations.
PINNACLE INSTITUTE
iii. Spain holds a big lead over Germany in second place, with Argentina in third. Colombia and Portugal round
out the top five.
iv. World Cup host Brazil is 10th, with the United States in 14th.

8. Fast Patrol Vessel Abhinav, the Indian Coast Guard Ship commissioned in Kochi
i. The Indian Coast Guard Ship Abhinav was commissioned in Kochi on 15 January 2014 by the Director General
of Coast Guard Vice Admiral Anurag G Thapiyal.
ii. Abhinav is the third in the series of twenty Fast Patrol Vessels (FPVs) and has been designed and built by
Cochin Shipyard Limited.
iii. The ship has been named ICGS Abhinav (which literally means Modern). It will be based at Kochi under the
administrative and operational control of the Commander, Coast Guard Region (West).
iv. The ship is commanded by Commandant (JG) Raman Kumar and has complement of 5 officers and 34 other
ranks.

About the Fast Patrol Vessel Indian Coast Guard Vessel (ICGS) Abhinav
The 50 meter indigenous FPV displaces 290 tonnes and can achieve a maximum speed of 33 knots with an
endurance of 1500 nautical miles at economical speed of 13 knots,
It is equipped with state-of-the-art weaponry and advanced communication and navigational equipment
It has been designed to undertake multifarious close-coast missions that includes surveillance, interdiction,
search and rescue as well as medical evacuation.

9. Jet Airways CEO resigns
i. Jet Airways (India) Ltd.s CEO Garry Kenneth Toomey, who joined the airline barely seven months ago, has
resigned.
ii. Mr. Toomeys resignation is effective immediately, the airline said on Thursday, without giving any details
regarding the circumstances of his resignation.
iii. Ravishankar Gopalakrishnan, the chief financial officer, will officiate as the acting chief executive officer till
the board identifies and appoints a new CEO, the airline said in a filing to the Bombay Stock Exchange.


15 JAN
1. Army celebrates 66th Indian Army Day today

i. The 66th Army Day is being observed on 15 January 2014. The day is celebrated in recognition of the
appointment of General K M Cariappa as the first Commander-in-Chief of independent India. He succeeded
British Army General Roy Butcher on this day in 1948.
ii. Preparing for the celebrations, Lt Gen Ashok Singh, general officer commanding-in-chief, Southern Command,
said in his message: "...On the auspicious occasion I extend my heartiest congratulation to all ranks of the
Southern Command, our honoured veterans, Veer Naries, civilians and their family members."
iii. Stating that the Army Day provides an opportunity to reaffirm the army's pledge to defend the nation, he said:
"We, the soldiers of the Southern Command rededicate ourselves to carry out our duties towards achieving our
goal of safeguarding the borders of this great nation and serve the citizens of India."
iv. An official note from the Southern Command said that the future holds more challenges and that the
command is optimistic that each and every member will put in his and her best to keep the Indian flag flying
higher than ever.

2. World Bank projects Indias growth at over 6% in 2014-15
PINNACLE INSTITUTE
i. The World Bank has projected Indias economy will grow over 6 per cent in 2014-15
and 7.1 per cent by 2016-17 as global demand recovers and domestic investment increases.
ii. In China, growth is estimated to stay flat in 2014 at 7.7 per cent, slowing to 7.5 per cent for the next two years,
reflecting deleveraging and less reliance on policy-induced investment.
iii. Global GDP growth may firm up to 3.2 per cent this year from 2.4 per cent in 2013, stabilising at 3.4 per cent
and 3.5 per cent in 2015 and 2016, respectively, the World Bank said in its Global Economic Prospects (GEP)
report released today.
iv. According to the report, the global economy is projected to strengthen this year, with growth picking up in
developing countries and high-income economies appearing to be finally turning the corner five years after the
global financial crisis.

4. Rajeev Kher appointed new Commerce Secretary
i. Senior IAS officer Rajeev Kher has been appointed Secretary in Department of Commerce.
ii. Kher, a 1980-batch IAS officer of Uttar Pradesh cadre, is presently Special Secretary, Department of
Commerce under Ministry of Commerce and Industry.
iii. He will take over from S R Rao, a 1978-batch IAS officer of Gujarat cadre, after his retirement on January 31,
a press release issued today by Ministry of Personnel said.
iv. Sudarsanam Srinivasan, a 1980-batch IAS officer of Odisha cadre, has been appointed Member (Finance),
Atomic Energy, Space and Earth Commissions.

6. Anees Salim bags The Hindu Prize for Best Fiction 2013
i. Kerala-based writer Anees Salim won The Hindu Prize for Best Fiction 2013 for his
second novel, Vanity Bagh for consistent writing and humour and imagination.
PINNACLE INSTITUTE
ii. The book is a very comic account of a young man from a minority group from a place called Vanity Bagh, also
called Little Pakistan.
iii. It is about physical cities, both real and imagined, said writer Timeri N. Murari, one of the jury members.
iv. Novelist Jim Crace made the announcement on Monday evening at the valedictory session of The Hindu Lit
for Life. There is a lot of humour in the book that runs through it. It is philosophical and liberating, Mr. Murari
added.
v. Mr. Salim was represented by his publisher Pranav Kumar of Picador, who also read out his acceptance
speech at the event.

Note: i. The Hindu Prize for Best Fiction recognises the contribution of Indian writers to literary culture. It
comprises a cash component of Rs. 5 lakh and a plaque.
ii. Manu Joseph won the first The Hindu Prize for Best Fiction in 2010 for his debut novel Serious Men.

10. Akhilesh Das Gupta set to be re-elected BAI president
i. Akhilesh Das Gupta is set to be re-elected president of the Badminton Association of India (BAI) as he
remained the only candidate for the coveted post at the end of the filing of the nominations.
ii. General secretary Vijai Sinha would also be re-elected unopposed when the BAIs annual general meeting
takes place here on January 25 during the Syed Modi International Grand Prix Gold Tournament.

14 JAN
2. Bhutanese parliamentarians on four-day visit to India
i. A parliamentary delegation from Bhutan on Monday left for New Delhi to discuss issues of bilateral
cooperation.
ii. The 13-member delegation led by the Speaker of Bhutan's National Assembly Jigme Zangpo on the invitation
of the Speaker of Lok Sabha Meira Kumar.
iii. During the four-day visit, the parliamentarians will meet Kumar and discuss issues of bilateral parliamentary
cooperation.
iv. The delegation will also meet with other high-ranking officials and members of Indian Parliament and is likely
to call on Vice President Hamid Ansari, according to a press release.
v. The Indian Parliament has been persistently rendering support in the human resource development of the
Bhutanese parliamentarians and officials through such visits and exchange programmes.

4. President presented Sunil Gangopadhyay Award 2012 & 2013
i. President of India, Pranab Mukherjee presented the Sunil Gangopadhyay Memorial Award of 2012 and 2013
on 11 January 2014 to two eminent Bengali poets, namely Nirendranath Chakraborty and Sankha Ghosh,
respectively.
ii. The awards were given at a function at Raj Bhawan in Kolkata.
iii. The Sunil Gangopadhyay Memorial Award was instituted by a cultural organisation The Bengal in 2012
following his death. Gangopadhyay had a talent of bringing in the historical research works into his writings.

5. Delhi became first state to withdraw FDI in Multibrand Retail
i. Delhi government on 13 January 2014 withdrew the Foreign Domestic Investment (FDI) in Multibrand Retail.
With this, Delhi became first state to take this step. This action is a reversal of previous Governments stand in
FDI that was made in July 2012 and allowed multi-brand retail trade.
ii. Delhi is one of the major recipients of FDI. This action can adversely affect the investment in the capital and
tarnish its FDI friendly image.
iii. The Delhi Chief Minister, Arvind Kejriwal said that he is not opposed to FDI. He also agreed that FDI in
multibrand retail gives more choice to the consumers.
iv. But, it was found that at the global level FDI in multibrand retail caused massive job losses at multiple places.
Thus, to prevent unemployment in the capital this decision was taken.

9. FIFA awards Cristiano Ronaldo prestigious Ballon d'Or prize
PINNACLE INSTITUTE

i. FIFA named Portuguese attacker Cristiano Ronaldo world's best soccer player for the 2012/2013 season.
ii. He was voted in ahead of Franck Ribery of Bayern Munich and Barcelona's Argentine superstar Lionel Messi,
who was shortlisted to pick up the award for a fifth year in succession.
iii. Ronaldo last won the FIFA World Player award in 2008.

10. Nadine Angerer named player of year
i. Germany goalkeeper Nadine Angerer has been voted the best women's football player in the world for 2013.
ii. Angerer, the current European player of the year, defeated United States forward
Abby Wambach, last year's winner, and five-time champion Marta of Brazil.
iii. Angerer helped Germany win the European Championship last year.

11. Anju B George gets gold medal in world athletics
i. Anju Bobby George has given India their first world athletics title although nine years
after the event was held in Monaco.
ii. The long jumper, who won the silver at the World Athletics Final in 2005, was elevated to the top spot by the
International Association of Athletics Federations on Monday, after gold medal winner Russia's Tatyana Kotova
was disqualified for doping.
iii. Anju's fifth place finish at the 2005 Helsinki World Championship's long jump event was also upgraded to
fourth.
iv. Kotova has been slapped with a suspension till January 2015 for testing positive for formestane and Anju who
finished with silver then, has now been conferred the gold.

13. Vijay Zol selected captain of India to lead U-19 Cricket World Cup
i. Vijay Zol of Maharastra was selected as the Captain of India to lead the Under-19 Cricket World Cup by the All-
India Junior Selection Committee on 13 January 2014. The U-19 Cricket World Cup will be held in the United
Arab Emirates (UAE) in February 2014.
ii. Vijay Zol also led India to victory in the U-19 Asia Cricket Cup against Pakistan in January 2014.
iii. India has won the ICC Under-19 Cricket World Cup three times in 2000, 2008 and 2012.

13 JAN
PINNACLE INSTITUTE
2. Andhra Pradesh bags conservation award !
i. The Petroleum Conservation Research Association under the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas has
selected Andhra Pradesh for the award of best performing State amongst the big states for the oil and gas
conservation programmes.
ii. The award will be presented by M.Veerappa Moily, Union Minister for Petroleum and Natural Gas in New Delhi
on January 16, according to a statement from State Energy Conservation Mission.
iii. The fifth high-level meet of State Energy Conservation Mission, to be chaired by the State Chief Secretary
P.K.Mohanty, will be held on January 16.

3. ICRA assigns AAA(hyb) rating to SBIs Rs 2,000-cr Basel III bonds
i. ICRA has assigned a AAA(hyb) rating with stable outlook to State Bank of Indias Basel III compliant Tier II
Bonds aggregating Rs 2,000 crore.
ii. This is the first Tier II capital instrument, compliant with the Basel III Capital Regulations, to be issued by SBI,
the largest bank in India.
iii. The Basel III Tier II bonds issued by banks are expected to provide their depositors and senior creditors an
additional layer of protection, the credit rating agency said.

Note: i. The RBI guidelines on Basel III Capital Regulations in May 2012 introduced stringent clauses for the debt
capital instruments so that loss absorption kicks in before the public injection of funds.

5. EPFO approves raising Provident Fund interest rate to 8.75%
i. Retirement fund body EPFO decided to increase the rate of interest on Provident Fund deposits to 8.75 percent
for 2013-14, a move that will benefit about 5 crore subscribers.
ii. "We have decided to recommend to the government 8.75 per cent rate of
interest for 2013-14 to its subscribers," Labour Minister Oscar Fernandes told reporters after a meeting of the
EPFO trustees in New Delhi on Monday.
iii. According to sources, the body had surplus funds, which enabled the interest rate to be increased from 8.5
percent in the previous financial year (2012-13).
iv. Payment of interest at the rate of 8.5 percent to subscribers would have required Rs 20,740 crore and left a
surplus of Rs 56.96 crore, according to earlier projections.
v. The Central Board of Trustees, which is the apex decision-making body of the Employees' Provident Fund
Organisation (EPFO), met on Monday and approved the interest rate.

6. '12 Years a Slave' wins Golden Globe for best dramatic film
i. '12 Years a Slave' won the Golden Globe award for the best dramatic film, the annual Hollywood award show's
top prize.
ii. '12 Years a Slave,' directed by British filmmaker Steve McQueen, is the
true life story of a free black man who is kidnapped and sold into slavery in pre-Civil War America.
iii. The Golden Globes, handed out by the Hollywood Foreign Press Association, were awarded at a star-studded
dinner in Beverly Hills, California this morning.
iv. 'American Hustle' won the Golden Globe award for the best comedy or musical film. 'American Hustle,'
directed by David O Russell and starring Christian Bale and Amy Adams, tells the story of 1970s scam artists
turned FBI informants who help the bureau ensnare politicians in a corruption sting.

7. American Hustle' wins big at Golden Globes 2014
PINNACLE INSTITUTE
i. Director David O Russell's con-artist caper 'American Hustle' took home the award for best comedy or musical
at the 71st annual Golden Globe Awards, alongwith stars Amy Adams and Jennifer Lawrence, who walked away
with prizes in the lead and supporting actress categories, respectively.
ii. Adams won for her role as an accent-swapping con artist while Lawrence took home the evening's first award
for her work as a bitter, unintentionally funny housewife.
iii. It was Russell, who also directed Lawrence in her Globe and Oscar-winning role last year in 'Silver Linings
Playbook'.

Leonardo DiCaprio wins Best Actor
i. Leonardo DiCaprio has won the Golden Globe for best actor in a comedy or musical for 'The Wolf of Wall
Street.
ii. ' Best actress in a motion picture, drama went to Cate Blanchett for 'Blue Jasmine'.





12 JAN
1. Worlds first insured Bitcoin vault opens in UK

i. The worlds first Bitcoin storage service that insures deposits of the digital currency against hackers and
accidental loss has opened in London.
ii. Bitcoin is a virtual currency that can be generated through complex computer software systems with solutions
shared on a network.
iii. Although, the digital currency is gaining popularity, concerns about its security are on the rise. Online wallets
used to store Bitcoins have been subject to a number of cyber-attacks and some users have also suffered from
accidental loss.
iv. The new Bitcoin storage service offering insurance in U.K., named Elliptic Vault, uses deep cold storage
techniques to secure the digital currency.
v. Bitcoin keys are encrypted and stored offline. There are multiple copies, protected by layers of cryptographic
and physical security.
vi. In India, a number of Bitcoin operators have suspended their business following the recent warning by the
countrys central bank against use of such virtual currencies due to potential money laundering and cyber
security risks.
vii. However, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) is yet to come out with a clear regulatory framework for Bitcoins.

PINNACLE INSTITUTE
Note: Bitcoin came into existence in 2009. It has become the worlds most expensive currency and its per unit
value soared past $1,200 level or about Rs. 63,000 in November 2013.

2. Hasina Sworn in for 3rd Time as Bangladesh PM
i. Awami League chief Sheikh Hasina was Sunday sworn in as prime minister of
Bangladesh for the third time along with a 48-member cabinet.
ii. President Abdul Hamid administered the oaths of office and secrecy to the 66-year-old Hasina.
iii. The cabinet includes 29 ministers, 17 state ministers and two deputy ministers.

Note: i. According to results from the Election Commission, the Awami League won 232 seats, securing a three-
fourths majority.
ii. Hasina first came to power in 1996 and then defeated Zia in the 2008 elections.

6. National Road Safety Week being observed across India !
i. Road Transport and Highways Ministry is observing the National Road Safety Week
across the country to create awareness among the people.
ii. The theme of this years Road Safety week is When on road, always say Pehle Aap

8. NASA discovers new potentially hazardous asteroid
i. NASA's latest sky-mapping spacecraft has discovered a new potentially hazardous asteroid, 43 million
kilometres from Earth.
ii. It is the Near-Earth Object Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer (NEOWISE)'s first
such discovery since coming out of hibernation last year. The spacecraft discovered a near-Earth asteroid
designated 2013 YP139 on December 29.
iii. The mission's sophisticated software picked out the moving object against a background of stationary stars.
iv. As NEOWISE circled Earth scanning the sky, it observed the asteroid several times over half a day before the
object moved beyond its view. Researchers at the University of Arizona used the Spacewatch telescope at the
Kitt Peak National Observatory southwest of Tucson to confirm the discovery.
v. NEOWISE was originally called the Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer (WISE), which had made the most
comprehensive survey to date of asteroids and comets.
vi. WISE discovered more than 34,000 asteroids and characterised 158,000 throughout the solar system during
its prime mission in 2010 and early 2011. Its reactivation in September followed 31 months in hibernation.

PINNACLE INSTITUTE
11 JAN
1. Bank of Japan, RBI conclude deal for raising BSA to USD 50 bn

i. The Bank of Japan (BOJ) and RBI concluded an agreement that expands the maximum amount of the bilateral
swap arrangement (BSA) between the two countries to USD 50 billion.

ii. The agreement was signed by BOJ Governor Haruhiko Kuroda and RBI Governor Raghuram Rajan on
Friday and has become effective as of 10th January 2014, the Reserve Bank of India said in a statement.
iii. "With this agreement, the current BSA, effective for 3 years from 2012 to 2015, is expanded from the original
size of USD 15 billion," it added.
iv. The BSA aims at addressing possible short-term liquidity difficulties and supplementing the existing
international financial arrangements, as one of the efforts in strengthening mutual cooperation between Japan
and India.
v. "This expansion of the BSA will contribute to the stability of global financial markets including emerging
economies," the RBI said.
vi. The BSA shall be effective until 3rd December 2015.

2. NABARD reduces refinance rate for banks
i. National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (NABARD) has reduced
refinance rate for banks and other lending agencies by 0.20 per cent to promote rural credit and rural
infrastructure.
ii. The revised rate of interest on refinance for a period of five years for commercial, state cooperative, regional
rural and primary urban cooperative banks will be 9.70 per cent, down from 9.90 per cent.
iii. NABARD said in a statement, the new rates are effective from 7th of this month. It further said, banks drawing
refinance of 500 crore rupees and more in a single drawl will be allowed further reduction of 0.10 per cent,
making the effective rate 9.60 per cent.
iv. NABARD said, these measures are expected to give a boost to banks for extending investment credit and
creation of much-needed warehousing infrastructure for agricultural commodities in the country.

4. Give a missed call to know your bank balance

i. It is quite common for some to give a missed call to their friends so that the other person calls him/her back.
ii. What if your bank allows such a facility? Not for transaction. It is only for enquiring about the balance in your
account.
iii. Syndicate Bank has introduced such a facility for its customers.
PINNACLE INSTITUTE
iv. After giving a missed call to a dedicated number, the customer will get his/her balance amount in the account
as an SMS, he said. The customer will not be charged for the facility.
v. Considering this, the bank came up with the idea of introducing the missed-call service, he said adding that the
customers will have to follow the procedures related to SMS banking.

8. Gorakhpur railway station entered Limca Book of Records as worlds longest platform
i. Gorakhpur railway stations platform number one of Uttar Pradesh has entered into the Limca Book of Records
as longest rail platform in the world.
ii. The certificate given by the Limca Book of Records was unveiled on 10 January 2014 by KK Atal, the General
Manager North Eastern Railways (NER).
iii. The platforms length is 1355.40 meters and was inaugurated in 6 October 2013.
iv. Before the platform number one of Gorakhpur, the platform of Kharagpur railway station of West
Bengal had the distinction of being worlds largest platform with length of 1072.5 meters.

9. Nirbheek, India's first gun for women, launched
i. Indias first gun for women, Nirbheek was launched on 9 January 2014. It is a tribute to the gang rape victim of
December 2012, Nirbhaya.
ii. Gun has been manufactured by the Indian Ordnance Factory, Kanpur.
iii. It is a 0.32 bore light weight revolver which has been developed to give more power to women to defend
themselves. It only weighs 500 grams and is made of titanium alloy. Besides, being the lightest revolver,
Nirbheek is also the smallest revolver made in India.
.
12. Players and Coaches accused of doping barred from getting Arjuna and Dronacharya Awards
i. The Government of India on 10 January 2014 set the new guidelines for National Sports Awards under which
players and coaches accused of doping will not be considered for Arjuna and Dornacharya Awards.
ii. These guidelines were issued by the Sports Minister Jitendra Singh for awarding Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna,
Arjuna, Dronacharya and Dhyanchand Awards.
iii. These guidelines were issued after the nomination of the controversial athlete Ranjit Maheshwari for Arjuna
Award in 2013.
iv. The National Anti-Doping Agency (NADA) is the national organization responsible for promoting, coordinating,
and monitoring the doping control programme in sports in all its forms in the country. NADA works towards a
vision of dope free sport in India. It came into being in India in 2009. These Anti Doping Rules of NADA came into
force from 01 January 2010.

10 Jan
1. Ela Gandhi, Ramakrishna Mission get Pravasi Bharatiya award
i. Mahatma Gandhi's grand-daughter Ela Gandhi, Australian senator of Indian origin Lisa Maria Singh and
Ramkrishna Mission in Fiji were among the 13 recipients of Pravasi Bharatiya Samman Award conferred in New
Delhi on Thursday.
ii. Ela Gandhi has been awarded the Pravasi Bharatiya Samman for public service, enhancing India's image and
promoting ties between India and South Africa.
iii. President Pranab Mukherjee conferred the awards to the winners at the Pravasi Bharatiya Diwas programme
in New Delhi.
iv. Lisa Maria Singh is the first member of Australian Parliament of South Asian descent and has held several
ministerial portfolios in the past. She is a senator from Tasmania.
v. Singh was given the Pravasi Bharatiya Samman for public service and fostering friendly relations between
India and Australia.
vi. Ramkrishna Mission, serving in Fiji since 1937, was honoured for community service and philanthropic
activities and enhancing India's prestige abroad.
Vii. Other winners include Kurian Verghese for his contribution in the field of business in Bahrain, Vasdev
Chanchlani for community service in Canada, Bikas Chandra Sanyal for contribution to education and culture in
France, Satnarainsing Rabin Baldewsingh for public service in the Netherlands and Sasindran Muthuvel for
public service in Papua New Guinea.

6. National Youth Festival from Jan 12 in Ludhiana
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i. The 18th National Youth Festival will be held in Ludhiana from January 12 to 16.
ii. The festival is held on the occasion of the birth anniversary of Swami Vivekananda on January 12, which is
observed as the National Youth Day.
iii. The festival is being organised by the Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports, Government of India and the
Government of Punjab.
iv. Over 5000 youth will participate at the Festival wherein each State/UT Government is expected to send a
contingent of 100 participants for a multitude of competitive and non-competitive activities such as classical vocal
solo, classical dance, folk dance, one act play and many others.
v. The opening ceremony will be organised at the Punjab Agricultural University, Ludhiana, and will be
inaugurated by Jitendra Singh, Minister of State (Independent Charge) Youth Affairs and Sports.
vi. The theme of the National Youth Festival this year is 'Youth For Drugs Free World'.

7. Govt. to refund Rs 112.6bn to BSNL & MTNL
i. The government on Thursday allowed state-run telecom firms Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd (BSNL) and
Mahanagar Telephone Nigam Ltd (MTNL) to get refunds of a total Rs 112.6 billion by returning their 4G radio
spectrum.
ii. By returning their 4G radio spectrum to the government, BSNL will receive Rs 67.24 billion, while MTNL will
get Rs 45.34 billion, Information & Broadcasting Minister Manish Tewari told reporters.
iii. Speaking to reporters, Mr. Tewari said, "The payout would be staggered and done over a period of time. The
GoM was of the view that BSNL and MTNL did not participate in the auction of BWA spectrum, so it would be
better to refund..."
iv. The two companies had received the radio spectrum in 2010 but haven't yet launched the services. The
decision aims at providing indirect financial support to the two money-losing telecom services providers.

9. World Bank to give $250 m loan for Uttarakhand reconstruction
i. Multi-lateral funding agency World Bank will provide $250 million loan to construct disaster resilient houses
and roads in disaster-hit Uttarakhand.
ii. The Government of India, the Government of Uttarakhand and the World Bank today signed a $250 million
credit agreement for the Uttarakhand Disaster Recovery Project to support the State in its post disaster recovery
plans as well as strengthen its capacity for disaster risk management, World Bank said in a release.
iii. The loan will help construct about 2,500 permanent disaster resilient houses and about 3,600 km of roads in
Uttarakhand.
iv. A joint World Bank and Asian Development Bank team conducted a Rapid Damage and Needs Assessment
(JRDNA) at the request of the Union Government to rebuild the States infrastructure and assets lost in the June
2013 disaster.
10. India to launch Chandrayaan-II by 2017: ISRO
i. "Chandrayaan-II is a mission where we essentially need to move on (lunar) surface to conduct experiments.
We will launch Chandrayaan-II with an indigenous rover and lander using GSLV by 2016 or 2017," Space
Secretary K Radhakrishnan said at a press conference today.
ii. Chandrayaan-I, India's first mission to Moon, was launched successfully on October 22, 2008 from Sriharikota.
iii. The spacecraft was orbiting around the Moon at a height of 100 km from the lunar surface for chemical,
mineralogical and photo-geologic mapping of the Moon.
iv. The mission aims at using and testing various new technologies and conducting new experiments as a part of
Moon probe, ISRO said.

Note: Initially, the Moon mission was a joint venture of the Indian space agency, ISRO, and its Russian
counterpart Roskosmos. However, Russia withdrew from the mission after it failed to provide a lander within the
proposed time.
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11. South Korean President visiting India from 15th January
i. President Park Geun-hye will hold delegation level talks with Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh and discuss
bilateral, regional and global issues during the visit, which is expected to expand and strengthen the India-
Republic of Korea strategic partnership.

09 jan
1. India ranks near bottom of nuclear material security index
i. India has been ranked below its two nuclear-armed neighbours Pakistan and China in the list of countries
with a weak nuclear material security in the world, according to a US-based think-tank.
ii. In the 2014 Nuclear Threat Initiatives Nuclear Materials Security Index released yesterday, India has been
ranked 23rd out of 25 countries with weapons-usable nuclear materials.
iii. India received 41 out of 100 points, which is improvement by one point from the 2012 score.
iv. For comparison, China received 64 points and has been ranked at 20th spot, while Pakistan with 46 points
stands at 22nd place.
v. India and these countries are included in the list of 25 countries with one kilogram or more of these materials,
which also includes all other nuclear-armed states.

2. Delhi Govt launches anti-corruption helpline no. 011-27357169
i. The Delhi Government has launched an anti corruption helpline to deal with complaints of graft-related cases in
the national capital.
ii. Launching the Helpline 011-27357169, Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal said that the number will be
functional from 8 in the morning to 10 in the night on all days.
iii. While calling on the number, people will get advice on how to trap the official and staff seeking bribe from the
concerned person by a sting operation.
iv. He said, the sting operation will be used by the Anti Corruption department of Delhi Government as an
evidence to initiate action against the corrupt official. Kejriwal said the help line will be the biggest weapon to fight
corruption.

3. RBI relaxes gold loan norms
i. The Reserve Bank of India has allowed Non-Banking Financial Companies, NBFCs to lend up to 75 per cent
of the value of gold.
ii. It was 60 per cent earlier. RBI said, it has been done in view of the moderation in the growth of gold loan
portfolios of NBFCs in the recent past.
iii. It said, the value of the jewellery for the purpose of determining the maximum permissible loan amount will be
only the intrinsic value of the gold content and no other cost like making charges.

4. Govt to retain policy of allowing 100% FDI in existing pharma firms
i. The government on Wednesday, decided to retain the policy of allowing 100 per cent FDI in the existing
pharma firms.
ii. In a statement, the Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion, however, said that as far as the contentious
issue of non- compete clause is concerned, the Foreign Investment Promotion Board will take a view on it on
case-by-case basis.
iii. Faced with a rush of multinationals acquiring Indian pharma firms, the department had earlier proposed
stringent norms to tighten the FDI policy for the sector.
iv. It had said the continuous acquisition of Indian pharma companies will severely impact availability and
affordability of generic medicines in the country, and asked for a reduction in the FDI cap to 49 per cent from 100
per cent in rare or critical pharma verticals.

5. Indian-origin youths in Forbes list of 'brightest young stars'
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i. The Forbes third annual '30 Under 30' list comprises young achievers in 15 different fields and includes icons
like pop singers Justin Bieber, Miley Cyrus and Taylor Swift, founder and CEO of the short-form blogging platform
Tumblr David Karp, tennis player Maria Sharapova and Pakistani girls' rights activist Malala Yousafzai.
ii. The list of 450 young achievers includes 23 men and women who are of Indian-origin and are doing exemplary
work like founding learning centers in India, or establishing a software company that helps teachers track
classroom behavior, working as vice president at an American football team based in Jacksonville, Florida and
owner of an exclusive chocolate boutique.

6. International space station operations extended to 2024: NASA
i. NASA announced today that the Obama administration has approved NASAs request for an extension of
operations for the International Space Station for an additional four years to 2024.
ii. The International Space Station is the largest space lab ever built, some four times bigger than Russian space
station Mir and about five times as large as US Skylab.
iii. NASA said the entire lab is the length of a football field (357 feet, 109 meters).

10. Election Commission aborts tie-up with Google over security concerns
i. US-based Google had earlier this week made a formal presentation to the Election Commission proposing a
tie-up with it for voter facilitation services ahead of the Lok Sabha elections.
ii. The Election Commission in its meeting held on Thursday deliberated on the issue and decided not to go
ahead. Chief Election Commissioner VS Sampath and Election Commissioners HS Brahma and SNA Zaidi were
present in this meeting.
iii. "After due consideration, the Commission has decided not to pursue it any further," an Election Commission
official said.
iv. The Congress and BJP besides some cyberspace experts had voiced concerns over the proposed tie-up,
saying stakeholders should have been consulted before a decision.

Note: The Election Commission had earlier signed a non-disclosure agreement with Google but had not shared
or handed over any data to the internet giant so far and was deliberating on the tie-up with it for using its search
engines for voter facilitation.
13. Dhoni, Dhawan, Kohli nominated for ESPNCricinfo Awards
i. The annual ESPNCricinfo Awards recognize the best performances in Tests and ODIs through the year and the
Indian trio figured in both the Test batting performance of the year and ODI batting performance of the year
nominations.
ii. Off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin made the grade in the Test bowling performance of the year, while Ravindra
Jadeja was shortlisted for the ODI bowling performance of the year.
iii. An independent jury will decide the winners in the four individual performance categories, while fan voting on
ESPNcricinfo will determine the Best Debut of the Year award.
iv. The winners will be announced later this year at a gala event in Mumbai.

8 jan

2. Mahila Bank signs MoUs with ICAI to finance CA students
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i. Bharatiya Mahila Bank (BMB), the first all-women bank, today signed an
agreement with Institute of Chartered Accountants of India (ICAI) for financing students pursuing chartered
accountancy.
ii. It has also signed another MoU with ICAI for financing members of ICAI, practicing chartered accountants for
setting up offices, BMB said in a statement.
iii. Girl students pursuing CA will be offered a 1 per cent concession in the rate of interest, it said.
iv. To encourage more women professionals to take up practice, a concession of 1 per cent in the rate of interest
is being offered on loans to set up practice, it said.


3. World Bank to provide $500 m loan for rural water supply
i. World Bank will provide $500 million loan for water supply and sanitation projects in the rural areas of Assam,
Bihar, Jharkhand and Uttar Pradesh.
ii. The project will be implemented over a six-year period.
iii. It will support the design and implementation of a dedicated RWSS program for low income states under the
ongoing National Rural Drinking Water Program in the Ministry of Drinking Water and Sanitation (MoDWS), it
said.
iv. The phase 1 of the project will cover 33 districts in Assam, Bihar, Jharkhand and Uttar Pradesh.
v. The project will be financed by a credit from the International Development Association (IDA), the World
Banks concessionary lending arm which provides interest-free loans with 25 years to maturity and a grace period
of five years.

7. Nagpur to host Krishi Vasant 2014
i. Nagpur will play host to Krishi Vasant 2014, being organised by the Union Government and the Government of
Maharashtra in partnership with CII between February 9 and 13.
ii. The event, which will be inaugurated by President Pranab Mukherjee, will be the biggest ever congregation of
farmers from the entire country, agro-industries, research organisations, Krishi Vigyan Kendras, State
Governments, Financial Institutions and all other stakeholders.
iii. It will have over 300 live demonstration plots of cereals, pulses, fodder, oilseeds, vegetables and fibre-crops,
while best quality animals, poultry and fish will also be on display.

8. Google makes presentation to EC for controversial tie-up

i. Internet giant Google made a formal presentation to the Election Commission on Tuesday, proposing a tie-up
with it for voter facilitation services ahead of Lok Sabha elections, a move questioned by several quarters citing
security concerns.
ii. The Election Commission has said it has "not" signed any agreement with the US-based internet company so
far on voter facilitation initiatives ahead of polls.
iii. In its presentation before the EC, in which Chief Election Commissioner V S Sampath, Election
Commissioners H S Brahma and S N A Zaidi and other top officials were present, Google proposed providing its
search engines free of cost to Indian voters during the 2014 general elections.
iv. Google also proposed free online voter registration besides making available vital details of Voter EPIC card
numbers and polling station location.
v. Congress and BJP besides some cyberspace experts have voiced concers over the proposed tie-up of
Election Commission with Google for voter facilitation services, saying stakeholders should have been consulted
before a decision.

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12. 2022 World Cup wont be in June or July: Valcke
i. FIFA secretary general Jerome Valcke said that the 2022 World Cup in Qatar will not be
held in June or July because of the Gulf countrys summer heat.
ii. Valcke told France-Inter radio that he expects the tournament to be held between November 15 and January
15 at the latest.
iii. Valcke is leading FIFAs consultation to suggest which months to play after president Sepp Blatter rejected the
traditional June-July World Cup period because of the heat.

7 jan
3. Jains to be included in list of minority communities, says Minority Affairs Minister
i. Minority Affairs Minister K Rahman Khan has said the Jain community will be added to the list of national
minority communities. In an interview to a private news channel, Mr. Khan said the attorney general and the Law
Ministry have cleared the proposal and a note has been sent to the Prime Minister's Office.
ii. He said the draft of Equal Opportunity Commission as recommended by the Sachar Committee is with the
Union Cabinet and it would be made into a law soon. He said all minorities would be covered and the
Commission would have legal teeth.


4. Govt launches nations first comprehensive adolescent health programme
i. The Government today launched nations first comprehensive adolescent health programme, which will include
a sharp focus on adolescents' sexual health.
ii. The programme envisions that all adolescents in India are able to realize their full potential by making informed
and responsible decisions related to their health and well-being.
iii. He highlighted various programmes and initiatives by the Government which have brought about a
transformational change in the health of the country.
iv. The Minister also informed that India will be declared a polio free country by the World Health Organization on
January 13 which is a milestone for the Country.
v. Speaking at the launch of Rashtriya Kishor Swasthya Karyakram(National Adolescent Health Programme) in
New Delhi, Union Minister for Health and Family Welfare Ghulam Nabi Azad said the Government stands
committed towards promoting adolescent health mission in the country and would address the health needs of
243 million adolescents who constitute 21 per cent of the total population in India.


5. Janet Yellen appointed as new chairman of the Federal Reserve

i. Janet Yellen has been confirmed as the new chairman of the Federal Reserve, however her appointment was
backed by the least Senate support on records indicating that the central bank is facing internal differences.
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ii. Experts have said that the central bank is still facing scrutiny from political leaders even six years after the
financial crisis. The senate voted 56-26 to confirm Yellen as the new head of the central bank, indicating that she
received least support from the leaders.
iii. Yellen, who will be the first woman to head the Federal Reserve, will lead the central bank at a troubling time
as it is planning to roll back it stimulus package.

7. India successfully test-fires Prithvi-II missile

i. India on Tuesday successfully test-fired its indigenously developed nuclear-capable Prithvi-II missile, which has
a strike range of 350 kms and is capable of carrying warheads of upto 1000 kgs, from a test range in Odisha.
ii. The launch was part of a user trial by the Army.
iii. Describing the trial of the sophisticated missile as a "complete success", Integrated Test Range Director M V
K V Prasad said the launch conducted by the specially formed Strategic Forces Command (SFC) met all the
parameters.
iv. The surface-to-surface missile was test fired from a mobile launcher in salvo mode from launch complex-3 of
the ITR at Chandipur near here at about 0948 hrs.

8. Pravasi Bharatiya Divas begins
i. Engaging with the youth and discussions on healthcare will be key focus areas of
Pravasi Bharatiya Divas 2014 which kicked off in New Delhi on Tuesday.
ii. Information and Broadcasting Minister Manish Tewari highlighted the aim of creation of Ministry of Overseas
Indians.
iii. The Minister said that the Pravasi Bharatiya Platform should be more broadbased and expanded.
iv. This year's theme is "Engaging Diaspora: Connecting Across Generations" and the Youth PBD is
expected to open new horizons of a strong network of young overseas Indians to contribute to India's
engagement with youth in all sectors.

9. Banks approach RBI to hike ATM transaction fee
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i. Banks are likely to start charging customers for transacting more than five times a
month at any bank ATM, including their own bank.
ii. Banks have mooted the charge on ATM transactions to pay for the increased security costs at ATMs, put in
place by many State Governments, following the grievous attack on a woman inside an ATM kiosk in Bangalore
last November.
iii. Currently, there is no cap on the number of transactions that a customer can undertake at his own banks
ATM.
iv. However, the number of free transactions at other banks ATMs has been capped at five a month.
v. Banks may also down the shutters of some ATMs at night, especially at locations where footfalls are low.
vi. Last week, RBI Deputy Governor K.C. Chakrabarty said the regulator will have no objections if the lenders
charge a reasonable fee for the ATM services.

Interchange fee
i. Banks have requested the RBI to allow them to increase the ATM interchange fees (the fees paid by the card-
issuing bank to the acquiring bank) to Rs 18 from Rs 15 a transaction now.
ii. Further, they want to pass on the costs arising from the interchange fee and switching fee to customers from
the sixth transaction onwards.
5 - 6th January

4. HC: CAG can audit private telecom companies' accounts
i. In a significant ruling, the Delhi High Court on Monday held that the Comptroller and Auditor
General of India (CAG) can audit the accounts of private telecom operators under the relevant
provisions of the law.
ii. A bench of justices Pradeep Nandrajog and V Kameswar Rao permitted the top accounting body to
conduct audit of private telecom companies under the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI)
Act.
iii. It rejected the separate petitions of Association of Unified Telecom Service Providers (AUSPI) and
Cellular Operators Association of India (COAI) filed against the decision of Telecom tribunal TDSAT
on the issue in 2010.
iv. To achieve the purpose of audit, the operators had pointed out that they have already put in place
mechanism of special audit as envisaged in the license agreement between department of telecom
and the companies.
v. The firms had claimed they maintain accounts in line with the TRAI rules and can't be forced to
furnish financials to CAG. The CAG had vigorously staked its claim to audit the accounts and sought
revenue sharing details from the telecom companies.

6. INS Vikramaditya enters Indian Navy's area of operation
i. As Indias newest aircraft carrier INS Vikramaditya entered the Indian Navys area of operation in
north western Arabian Sea, accompanied by three other vessels, it was rendezvoused in Naval
parlance RVed with the Western Fleet that had gone all the way from Mumbai to receive it.
ii. INS Vikramaditya, which was accompanied by INS Trikand, which is a Talwar class frigate, INS
Delhi which is a Delhi class destroyer and INS Deepak, the fleet tanker, fired ceremonial guns to
salute the flag of the fleet commander Rear Admiral Anand Chawla, who was leading the flotilla of the
Western Fleet, that also comprised aircraft carrier INS Viraat.
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iii. The other ships besides INS Viraat which had
gone to receive INS Vikramaditya included two Delhi class destroyers, three Trishul class stealth
frigates, a Godavari class frigate and a couple of offshore vessels.
iv. At the time of commissioning of INS Vikramaditya Indian Navy Chief Admiral D.K. Joshi had
indicated that Indian naval fighter pilots would be certified to carry out flying operations from the
carrier deck within weeks of the carriers arrival in India.
v. INS Vikramaditya (R33) is a Project which entered into service with the Indian Navy in 2013. The
ship has been renamed in honour of Vikramaditya, a legendary 1st century BC emperor of Ujjain,
India.

9. GSLV-D5 launch places India in elite league
i. ISRO said, 'Indias tryst with Cryogenic propulsion bears fruit. Flight-testing of Indian cryogenic
engine/GSLV D5 is successful'.
ii. The GSLV-D5's first mission attempt with indigenous cryogenic
engine was aborted at the eleventh hour on August 19 last year due to a fuel leak in its second stage.
Fuel tank made of aluminium alloy called Afnor 7020 tended to develop crack over a period of time
and the leak was blamed on it.
iii. The GSLV is designed to inject its passenger spacecraft into the intended Geosynchronous
Transfer Orbit with a combination of solid, earth-storable liquid and cryogenic propellants in its first,
second and third stages, respectively.
iv. The missions success means India now has the ability to put satellites weighing more than two
tonnes in orbit, joining the elite club of the U.S., Russia, France, Japan and China who have mastered
this perilous technology of using cryogenic propellants -- liquid oxygen at minus 183 degrees Celsius
and liquid hydrogen at minus 253 degrees Celsius.


10. SEBI grants new status to three clearing corporations
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i. Market regulator SEBI has granted qualified central counterparty status
to National Securities Clearing Corporation, Indian Clearing Corporation and MCX-SX Clearing
Corporation.
ii. The QCCP status will make the three clearing corporations comply with the Principles for Financial
Market Infrastructure (PFMI), an international standard to handle counterparty risk on derivatives,
SEBI said in a statement issued on Friday.
iii. "These (clearing corporations) are also subjected, on an on-going basis, to rules and regulations
that are consistent with the PFMI issued by the Committee on Payment and Settlement Systems
(CPSS) and International Organisation of Securities Commissions (IOSCO)," SEBI said.
iv. The international standards were issued in April 2012 and all G-20 nations were to required to
adhere to these strict standards to check derivative-related risks in the financial system.
v. These rules were issued to enhance safety and efficiency in payment, clearing, settlement, and
recording arrangements, and more broadly, to limit systemic risk and foster transparency and financial
stability.

Note: i. QCCP is an entity that is licensed to operate as a central counterparty (including a license
granted by way of confirming an exemption) and is permitted by the appropriate regulator to operate
as such with respect to the products offered.
ii. Clearing Corporations undertakes the activity of clearing and settlement of trades in securities or
other instruments or products that are dealt with or traded on stock exchanges.
iii. On Thursday, Reserve Bank had granted QCCP status to Clearing Corporation of India.
15. Aditya Joshi is world No.1 junior shuttler
i. Young shuttler Aditya Joshi from Madhya Pradesh has become the
first male junior badminton player from India to be ranked top in the world.
ii. Aditya, 17, a resident of Dhar town, recently got the number one slot in the January rankings of the
World Badminton Federation (WBF).
iii. Aditya was at the 11th position till November, but he managed to jump ahead of all the players by
achieving 18,776 points.
iv. His victory in the national junior championship held at Chandigarh last month made way for his top
ranking.

4 jan
6. Dhoom 3 is highest revenue grosser, ever
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i. Dhoom 3 has become Bollywoods highest revenue grosser of all times in just a fortnight after its pan-India
release.
ii. In India, the Hindi action flick has done net collections of Rs 257 crore while it generated gross earnings of Rs
334 crore, according to trade estimates. Its gross overseas earnings stood at Rs 139 crore as on January 1,
sources at Yashraj Films, Dhoom 3s producers, have said.
iii. The film has surpassed Krrish 3 and Chennai Express which grossed Rs 240 crore and Rs 227 crore
respectively.
iv. Yes, "Dhoom3 is the highest grosser ever of Hindi films in Indiaall time blockbuster, said trade analyst
Taran Adarsh on Twitter.
v. The film has been creating buzz in the cyberspace too. According to a survey by media company Vuclip,
Dhoom 3 was the most popular search term for mobile videos in India for the three months ending December
31, 2013.

3 jan
1. M.S. Dhir of AAP elected new Speaker of Delhi Assembly
i. After a smooth sailing in the confidence vote, AAP on Friday scored yet
another victory in the Delhi Assembly when its candidate M S Dhir was elected Speaker with the backing of
Congress, JD(U) and an Independent.
ii. 37 MLAs voted for Dhir while BJP candidate Jagdish Mukhi got the support of 32 MLAs from his party and ally
Akali Dal.
iii. The House has a strength of 70 members including the Speaker. Immediately after Dhir's election to the post,
Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal and BJP leader Harsh Vardhan greeted the new Speaker and escorted him to the
podium.
iv. The pro-tem speaker conducted a voice vote twice following objections by BJP MLAs. Earlier, Congress had
issued a whip to its MLAs to support AAP candidate.
v. The minority Aam Aadmi Party government yesterday had crossed the first hurdle in the Delhi Assembly when
its confidence motion sailed through easily with the backing of the members of Congress, JD(U) and an
independent 28 AAP members along with seven of Congress, a lone JD(U) member and an independent had
stood in support while 31 members of BJP and one member of its ally Akali Dal were against it.

4. Manoj Vaish appointed as MCX MD & CEO
i. Multi Commodity Exchange of India Ltd (MCX) has a new Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer in
Manoj Vaish.
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ii. Vaish is currently the Managing Director of NSDL Database Management.
iii. He was earlier an Executive Director of the BSE between 1998 and 2004 and CEO of financial services
research firm Dun & Bradstreet.

5. Corporation Bank launches campaign for agri credit delivery
i. Corporation Bank has launched a year-long campaign for the delivery of agriculture credit and financial
inclusion initiatives at all its branches.
ii. A statement by the bank said here that the campaign has been launched in tune with the International Year of
Family Farming, declared by the United Nations for 2014.
iii. Lending to agriculture and allied activities to farming families and assessing their needs comprehensively will
be pursued during the camps at the banks branches.
iv. The objective of the campaign is to stimulate sustainable development of agricultural systems
focused on farming families, community units, self-help groups, and cooperatives working in rural areas, the
statement added.

6. Indian Overseas Bank launches IOB-Connect card
i. Targeting young individuals, public sector Indian Overseas Bank today launched Connect Card, a new ATM
cum Debit card in association with VISA that can be used for e-commerce across five lakh merchant outlets.
ii. Though all IOB customers have been provided ATM cum Debit card, Connect Card is targeted at the younger
generation aged between 10 and 28 years, the city-based bank said in a statement.
iii. IOB Connect cards can be used at over five lakh outlets as well as for online shopping. Encouraging e-
payments, the bank offers five per cent cash back offer till the end of this financial year, it said.
iv. Besides, the bank also launched Channel Financing for its corporate, institutional and SME credit customers.

8. New GM for Central Railway
i. Sunil Kumar Sood has been appointed General Manager, Central Railway with effect from December 31, 2013.
ii. He was earlier Chief Mechanical Engineer, Southern Railway, Chennai. Sood had also served as Divisional
Railway Manager, Jodhpur Division, North Western Railway, Chief Workshop Manager, Jamalpur, Eastern
Railway, Additional Divisional Railway Manager, Moradabad Division, Northern Railway, earlier.
iii. He also worked for eight years each at the Rail Coach Factory, Kapurthala and the South-Eastern Railway
after joining Indian Railways in 1978.

2 jan
4. Ashraf Jehan, first female judge in Paks National Sharia Court
i. Ashraf Jehan a female judge sworn-in at Pakistans national sharia court which
hears cases under the Islamic legislation.
ii. Ashraf Jehan took oath and became the first female judge to be appointed in the courts history. She was
serving as an additional judge at the Sindh High Court.
iii. The Court was established during the rule of military dictator Ziaul Haq as part of his policy towards
Islamisation of Pakistans institutions. The law is also known as the Hudood Laws, which run parallel to the penal
code.

5. Devendra Kumar Pathak appointed as Special DG, BSF
i. Devendra Kumar Pathak has been appointed as the Special DG, Border Security Force (BSF) on 30 December
2013. At the time of his appointment in BSF, he was serving as the Special DG, Central Reserve Police Force
(CRPF).
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ii. His appointment as the Special DG, BSF started with immediate effect and will continue till the date of
superannuation in March 2016 or until any further orders.
iii. Pathak is an (Indian Police Service) IPS of 1989-batch of Assam-Meghalaya cadres. He has been serving
Central Reserve Police Force since 11 November 2011.

10. P K Saxena new GM of South Western Railway
i. Pradeep Kumar Saxena has taken over charge as full-fledged General Manager of South Western Railway
(SWR).
ii. Before taking over as General Manager, SWR, Saxena was Principal Chief Engineer, Central Railway,
Mumbai.
iii. Saxena, an Indian Railway Service of Engineer (IRSE) of 1977 batch, graduated in civil engineering from
Rewa Engineering College, Madhya Pradesh.

1st January

1. India cancels 3,600 crore rupee VVIP choppers deal with Agusta WestLand !

i. India on Wednesday cancelled its Rs 3,600 crore deal with Anglo-Italian firm AgustaWestland for
supply of 12 VVIP choppers to the Air Force in view of charges that kickbacks to the tune of Rs 360
crore were paid in it.

ii. The decision to scrap the 2010 deal was taken nearly a year after reports surfaced that two top
officials of the company had allegedly paid bribes to bag the contract.
iii. Former IAF chief S P Tyagi is one of the accused in the case, which is being probed by CBI.
iv. The cancellation came after a meeting between Defence Minister A K Antony with Prime Minister
Manmohan Singh here earlier in the day, Defence Ministry sources told PTI.
v. The deal was for supply of 12 helicopters for VVIPs and out of these AgustaWestland has already
delivered three.
vi. India has now decided to go in for arbitration with the Anglo-Italian firm, Defence Ministry sources
said here.
vii. The government had frozen the contract in February last year for supply of 12 AW-101 VVIP
choppers to the IAF after allegations that Rs 360 crore were paid as bribe.
viii. Two top officials of the company were accused and arrested in Italy in this regard. India had
already made 30 per cent payment and further payment was in the pipeline for three more helicopters
when the freeze was ordered.
ix. The Defence Ministry had issued two show cause notices to the Anglo-Italian firm during the last
ten months.
x. The firm denied any wrongdoings in its response but the government rejected their contention.
xi. The Defence Ministry had also got access to the documents seized from the alleged middlemen in
Italy and they are also expected to have formed the basis for the scrapping of the contract, sources
said.
xii. Soon after the Defence Ministry ordered a freeze on the deal months ago, the company had
alleged that the India was acting "unilaterally" and invoked arbitration proceedings against it.
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xiii. The Defence Ministry had then refused to be drawn into a legal battle with the company. The
CAG had also highlighted loopholes in the deal.

4. V. Kannan takes charge as Vijaya Bank CMD
i. V. Kannan has taken charge as Chairman and Managing Director (CMD) of
Vijaya Bank.
ii. He took charge from H.S. Upendra Kamath, who has demitted the office of CMD on attaining
superannuation on December 31, 2013.

5. S.K. Sharma is CMD of Bharat Electronics
i. S.K. Sharma has taken charge as the Chairman and Managing Director of defence public sector
Bharat Electronics Ltd.
ii. Sharma joined BEL in 1978 after graduating from the University College of Engineering, Bangalore.
He completed his Masters in Business Administration while in service.
iii. He has wide experience in multiple disciplines covering Electronic Warfare, Avionics, Network
Centric Systems, Radars and Components, having served in various capacities at BEL's Bangalore,
Ghaziabad and Hyderabad Units.

6. Madhusudhan takes charge as RINL head
i. P. Madhusudan, Director (Finance), Rashtriya Ispat Nigam Ltd (RINL)
Vizag Steel Plant, assumed charge on Wednesday as the companys CMD. A.P Choudhury retired
from the post on Tuesday, said a press release.
ii. Madhusudhan, who had joined RINL in 2009, will hold the new post for the next five years, as the
company plans to increase its capacity to reach to 11-12 mtpa and become a maharatna