GK Power Capsule Oct 2013 (The Hindu Review)

This GK Capsule has been prepared by Mr Sumit Yadav - Senior GK Faculty at Career Power Institute Delhi (Formerly Known as Bank Power). This has been prepared on the basis of news and events appeared in The Hindu Newspaper in the month of October 2013. 1. The Reserve Bank of India raised repo rate by 25 basis points to 7.75%. The central bank also pared its GDP growth projection for the current year to 5% from 5.5% and, for the first time, offered a projection for consumer price inflation (CPI), saying it expects CPI to remain around or even above 9% in the months ahead, absent policy action. New rates are: a. Bank Rate 8.75 % (Decreased 0.25%) b. Cash Reserve Ratio 4 % (Unchanged) c. Statutory Liquidity Ratio 23 % (Unchanged) d. Repo Rate 7.75 % (Increased 0.25%) e. Reverse Repo Rate 6.75 % (Increased 0.25%) f. Marginal Standing Rate 8.75 % (Decreased 0.25%) 2. Nobel Prize for different discipline has been announced. For details refer Tid-Bits. 3. G.K. Pillai was appointed as the Chairman of the MCX-SX. 4. Subhas Goswami was appointed as the Director General (DG) of Indo Tibetan Border Police (ITBP). 5. P.S. Raghvan was appointed as the next Ambassador of India to Russia. 6. The Government of India decided to appoint Air Marshal Arup Raha as the next Chief of the Air Staff. 7. Union Government of India appointed Gireesh B. Pradhan as the Chairperson of the Central Electricity Regulatory Commission (CERC). 8. United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon appointed Sigrid Kaag as head of the joint mission of the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) and the United Nations. The main objective of the OPCW-UN Mission is to eradicate chemical weapons in Syria. Government of Pakistan decided to appoint Pakistani veteran diplomat Syed Ibne Abbas as the new Pakistani envoy to India. US President Barack Obama nominated Janet L. Yellen as the new head of the Federal Reserve Board. Janet Yellen replaced Ben Bernanke. Janet Yellen is the first woman to lead the Federal Reserve Board.

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Arundhati Bhattacharya took over as the Chairperson of the State Bank of India (SBI). She is the first woman to take charge as the Chairperson of SBI.

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25. 12. S. Varadarajan took over charge as chairman and managing director (CMD) of Bharat Petroleum Corporation Limited (BPCL). Ranjan Mathai was appointed as India's High Commissioner to the United Kingdom. Srishti Rana of India was crowned Miss Asia Pacific World 2013 in Busan, South Korea. Shah Rukh Khan was appointed as the goodwill ambassador for South Korea. Four Indians have made to 2013 Fortune magazine's global list of top-50 women business leaders. ICICI Bank CEO Chanda Kochhar has been ranked 4th, National Stock Exchange chief Chitra Ramkrishna at 17th, Axis Bank's Shikha Sharma at 32nd and HSBC's Naina Lal Kidwai at 42nd place. This list is topped by Brazilian energy giant Petrobras' CEO Maria Das Gracas Foster. Alice Munro won the Nobel Prize for literature. She was the first Canadian woman to take the Nobel Prize since its launch in 1901. Arunendra Kumar was appointed as Chairman of Railway Board. Prime Minister of Libya, Ali Zeidan was abducted by gunmen on 10 October 2013. Ali Zeidan was later rescued. Ethiopia's parliament elected Mulatu Teshome as the country's new president for a six-year term. Ratan Tata was inducted into National Academy of Engineering (NAE) in the US for his outstanding contributions to industrial development in India as well as the world. Former Supreme Court judge of Sri Lanka C.V. Wigneswaran was sworn in the first Tamil chief minister of Northern Province. 26.

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Prime Minister of India, Manmohan Singh was on a 3-day Official Visit to Moscow to attend the 14th India-Russian Annual Summit. Prime Minister of India, Manmohan Singh was on a 3-day Official Visit to Beijing. During this visit India and China signed 9 agreements in total. The most important among them was the agreement on defence cooperation. Viktor Orban, Prime Minister of Hungary visited India. Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh paid an official visit to Brunei Darussalam from 9-11 October 2013 to attend the 11th ASEAN-India Summit and 8th East Asia Summit. Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh paid a State Visit to Indonesia from 10-12 October, 2013. Dr. Manmohan Singh also stated that a Free Trade Agreement on services and investments would be signed with ASEAN by end of 2013 to help meet India-ASEAN trade to 100 billion Dollars by 2015. The President of India, Pranab Mukherjee, paid a state visit to Belgium from 2 October 2013 to 5 October 2013, at the invitation of the King of the Belgium. Shreekant Javalgekar resigned as the Managing Director and CEO of Multi Commodity Exchange (MCX). Rasheed Masood, the arrested Congress leader resigned from the post of Chairman of the Agricultural and Processed Food Products Export Development Authority (APEDA). Jignesh Shah, founder, vice-chairman and a Director of Multi-Commodity Exchange (MCX), resigned from the board on 31 October 2013. Legendary Pakistani folk singer Reshma passed away in Lahore, Pakistan. Rajendra Yadav, the noted Hindi writer passed away in Delhi because of prolonged illness. Lawrence R Klein, Nobel Prize winning economist died on 20 October 2013 in Gladwyne, near Philadelphia. Eminent Telugu writer and Gyanpeeth award recipient, Dr. Ravuri Bharadwaja passed away in Hyderabad. Wilfried Martens, nine-times Prime Minister of Belgium died.

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Bollywood actress Kareena Kapoor was honoured in the House of Commons, London for her contribution to the global entertainment industry. Tennis player- turned film producer Ashok Amritraj was presented with the 'Soul of India Award' for his outstanding achievements in the film industry.

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Former Miss Universe Sushmita Sen conferred with the Mother Teresa Memorial International Award by NGO The Harmony Foundationfor her efforts towards achieving social justice in Mumbai. Anjali Gopalan was awarded with French highest civilian award Chevalier de la Legion dHonneur. She was awarded for her work on transgenders and HIV positive patients. Manna Dey, the legendary singer died in Bangalore hospital. Aung Suu Kyi received the Sakharov Prize for Freedom of Thought at Strasbourg, France. She was chosen by the European Parliament in 1990. Legendary singer Lata Mangeshkar was presented the first national Yash Chopra Memorial Award. Photographer Greg du Toit was announced the winners of 2013 Wildlife Photographer of the Year. Eminent agricultural scientist MS Swaminathan selected for the Indira Gandhi Award for National Integration for the year 2012. Malala Yousafzai, the Pakistani teen shot by the Taliban for championing girls' education won the European Union's (EU) Sakharov human rights prize 2013. A senior Indian journalist, Ravi Shankar Narsimhan was presented with Friendship award by China-the highest honor given to foreigners. The Empowered Committee headed by Mukul Mudgal submitted its report to Information and

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Broadcasting Minister. The committee was appointed to examine issues of certification under the Cinematograph Act, 1952. Government of India appointed a four member committee headed by Arvind Mayaram to clear the ambiguity between Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) and Foreign Institutional Investment (FII). India developed a new tactical surface-tosurface missile Pragati which has a range between 60-170 km. The Indian Navy inducted into service its largest offshore patrol vessel (OPV), INS Sunayna, at the Southern Naval Command. India successfully test-fired its indigenously developed nuclear-capable Prithvi-II missile with a strike range of 350 km from Chandipur Integrated test range in Odisha. The Union government of India launched the Inter Company LPG portability scheme in 24 cities across the country. It started with Bangaluru, Karnataka. Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC) headed by P.C. Chako, on allocation and pricing of telecom licences and 2G Spectrum during 1998-2009 was submitted its report to Lok Sabha Speaker Meira Kumar on 29 October 2013. Kirit Parikh Panel on advising Pricing Methodology for Diesel, Domestic LPG and PDS Kerosene submitted report to the Petroleum and Natural Gas Ministry. India ranked to the 134th spot in the ease of doing business list according to the annual Doing Business report released on 29 October 2013 by World Bank and International Finance Corporation (IFC). Singapore topped the list. Global Gender Gap Report 2013, which was published by World Economic Forum- India was ranked 101 out of 136 countries on Gender Gap index. The annual economic publication of Asian Development Bank (ADB) titled Asian Development Outlook released lowered the India economic growth forecast for 2013-14 to 4.7 percent. National Green Tribunal has banned digging of earth across the country for making bricks and

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laying roads without prior environment clearance. U.S. offer to open talks to extend its Global Entry programme to Indian citizens. Under the programme, frequent travellers from approved countries will facilitates quick entry to them and reduces immigration hassles. The U.N. Security Council unanimously passed a landmark resolution ordering the destruction of Syrias chemical weapons and condemning a murderous poison gas attack in Damascus. Canara Bank has agreed take over the Amanath Cooperative Bank. Rating agency Moodys lowered its forecast to 4.5 per cent, a full one percentage point below its earlier 5.5 per cent. A special CBI court in Ranchi pronounced all 45 accused, including Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) leader and MP Lalu Prasad, guilty in the Chaibasa treasury case of the Rs. 950-crore fodder scam. The Maharashtra Cabinet has proposed a policy to protect and support senior citizens. The policy proposes declaring those who do not take care of their aged parents as defaulters. Indian and Nepalese armies took part in a combined training programme in Uttarakhand, which was recently ravaged by floods and heavy rains. The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) said that Indias current account deficit (CAD) for the first quarter ended June 2013 has widened to 4.9 per cent of gross domestic product (GDP) compared to 4 per cent in the same period of the previous financial year. Net non-performing assets (NPAs) of all banks have increased to 1.68 per cent of the total loan at the end of 2012-13. It was 1.28 per cent at the end of 2011-12. Mumbai Police registered an FIR against National Spot Exchange Ltd. (NSEL) promoter Jignesh Shah and others in connection with the Rs.5,600-crore payment crisis at the crippled exchange. Later The Economic Offences Wing (EOW) of the Mumbai Police has arrested former CEO and Managing Director of NSEL Anjani Sinha.

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The Finance Ministry has started preparations for Budget 2014-15. With general elections scheduled to be held in May next, there will only be an interim Budget. The final Budget will be presented by the new government.

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The Central Bureau of Investigation has instituted a preliminary enquiry into alleged irregularities and subsequent non-payment of refunds to the tune of Rs.5,600 crore by the National Spot Exchange Limited (NSEL) to hundreds of investors. Peter Scholze, 25-year-old professor of mathematics, University of Bonn, Germany, has been chosen for the 2013 SASTRA Ramanujan Prize. U.S.-Venezuela ties reached a breaking point as Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro expelled the top American diplomat and two other officials for plotting to sabotage the countrys electrical grid and the economy. Cooking gas will now be available at select petrol pumps in metro cities after the Oil

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Ministry allowed the sale of five-kg cylinders at retail outlets. Russian President Vladimir Putin has been nominated for the 2014 Nobel Peace Prize by a Russian advocacy group The International Academy of Spiritual Unity and Cooperation Among the Nations of the World for his key role in preventing a U.S. missile strike on Syria and initiatives to dismantle Damascus chemical weapons. NABARD has announced a scheme Nabard Warehousing Scheme (NWS) 2013-14 with a corpus of Rs.5,000 crore for providing loans to the public and private sector to meet the growing demand of storage capacity of agricultural commodities in the country. Rashtriya Janata Dal chief Lalu Prasad was sentenced to five-year rigorous imprisonment in a corruption case. The sentence immediately disqualifies him from Parliament and bars him from elections for 11 years. Banks will offer cheaper loans to stimulate demand for two-wheelers and other consumer durables as Finance Minister P. Chidambaram tries to pull the economy out of the worst slowdown in a decade ahead of the national elections due by next May. Banks will get additional capital to carry out the plan.

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87. 78. Railway Minister Mallikarjun Kharge and Steel Minister Beni Prasad Verma finalised a deal for Rashtriya Ispat Nigam Limited (RINL) to set up a forged wheel factory at Lalganj in Rae Bareli. Union Cabinet cleared the Jet Airways proposed sale of 24 per cent equity to Abu Dhabi-based Etihad, days after the Rs.2,058-crore deal got regulatory clearances. The polls to the Assemblies in the National Capital Territory of Delhi and the States of Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Mizoram will be held between November 11 and December 4, the Election Commission announced. Counting of votes will be taken up

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on December 8. The model code of conduct has already come into effect. Chief Election Commissioner V.S. Sampath told that as per the Supreme Court direction, a None of the Above button (the option of rejecting all candidates) would be provided in electronic voting machines in the polls. Facing a cash crunch, the Railways have decided to increase passenger fare by 2 per cent for the second time this year to offset the additional financial burden of over Rs.1,200 crore arising out of the increased fuel and power costs. As Indian troops fought around 40 terrorists who infiltrated into the Keran sector of Jammu and Kashmir from across the border, Army Chief General Bikram Singh said that they would be flushed out soon and denied that a Kargil-like situation had developed there. The Supreme Court posted for hearing on October 8 an application filed by the Secretary, Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas, (MOPNG), seeking modification of the interim order that restrained the government from making Aadhaar card mandatory for transfer of social welfare benefits to beneficiaries. President Barack Obama cancelled a trip to Asia to stay in Washington due to shut down. Secretary of State John Kerry flew to Bali, Indonesia and will head the U.S. delegation to the summits. The Supreme Court asked Sahara and SEBI to formulate a mechanism for securing payment of around Rs.19,000 crore of investors money. Petroleum and Natural Gas Minister M. Veerappa Moily launched the 5-kg LPG cylinder scheme, on a pilot basis, in four metros, and inter-company LPG portability in 24 cities across the country. Vijay Kelkar Committee was appointed by the Petroleum and Natural Gas Ministry to prepare a road map to make India self-sufficient in oil and natural gas by 2030. Indias commercial export of power to Bangladesh commenced with the inauguration of the Bangladesh-India Power Transmission Centre at western Bherampura, adjacent to West Bengal. The power is being imported under a memorandum of understanding signed

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during Ms. Hasinas visit to India in 2010. India will export 500 megawatts of electricity a day to Bangladesh over a period of 35 years. 90. The Yashwant Sinha-led Standing Committee on Finance has argued strongly against grant of banking licences to corporate houses. 91. Chief of Army Staff in Pakistan, General Ashfaq Parvez Kayani said he would retire on November 29 at the end of his tenure. 92. The one-man inquiry commission headed by retired Justice Vishnu Sahay started probe into the Muzaffarnagar communal violence. 93. Karan Thapar has won the International Press Institute (IPI) India Award for Excellence in Journalism. 94. The government shutdown in the U.S. has forced the postponement of a visit by Army Chief Gen. Bikram Singh scheduled for later this month. 95. Union Cabinet cleared the National Identification Authority of India Bill. It will give statutory position to Unique Identification Authority of India. 96. The Supreme Court directed the Centre and State Governments to provide 3 per cent job reservation to disabled persons in their departments, companies and PSUs. 97. The Central Bureau of Investigation closed its probe against Bahujan Samaj Party supremo Mayawati in the disproportionate assets case. 98. The international lending agency said the global economy would grow 2.9 per cent this year and 3.6 per cent in 2014. 99. IMF slashed forecast for Indias growth 1.8 percentage points to 3.8 per cent this year. 100. Indias trade deficit the difference between imports and exports of goods and commodities fell to a two-and-a-half-year low of $6.76 billion in September. 101. Petroleum and Natural Gas Minister Veerappa Moily announced that Aadhaar would no longer be mandatory for availing the subsidy given for nine domestic cylinders under the direct benefit transfer (DBT) scheme, till it was cleared by the Supreme Court or through legislative authorisation. 102. Indian shuttler Jwala Gutta moved the Delhi High Court challenging the decision of

Badminton Association of India (BAI) to recommend a life ban on her for alleged indiscipline in the IBL. 103. Veteran diplomats Syed Ibne Abbas will be the new Pakistani envoys to India. 104. The Central Bureau of Investigation has taken over the probe against the former Rajasthan Minister, Babulal Nagar, who was booked for allegedly raping a 35-year-old woman. 105. The Election Commission clarified that any person it had enrolled but confined in a prison or in police custody shall continue to be an elector and can contest polls if not convicted.

106. The Pakistan Supreme Court held that there was no substantial evidence against former President General (retired) Pervez Musharrafs involvement in the killing of Baloch leader Nawab Akbar Khan Bugti and granted him bail. 107. Bharti Enterprises and U.S. retail giant Walmart announced the termination of their joint venture, ending a six-year relationship. 108. Jignesh Shah, Vice-Chairman and Shareholder Director, has resigned from the board of directors of MCX-SX. 109. The International Monetary Fund said Indias fiscal deficit was expected to increase to 8.5 per cent of GDP this financial year, mainly due to the downward revision in GDP growth. 110. Sachin Tendulkar was voted as the greatest batsman of all-time, ahead of Don Bradman and Brian Lara, in an online poll conducted by a British newspaper The Telegraph. 111. India made it clear at the just-concluded Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) meeting of the Committee on World Food Security in Rome that the procurement of foodgrains and distribution under the new Food Security Act will not be substantially higher than the ongoing public distribution system, indicating that it will not contribute to international price distortions.

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122. 112. The 29th annual meeting of the World Economic Forum (India chapter) (WEF), scheduled to be held in Kochi on November 8 and 9, has been cancelled in view of the announcement of elections in five States. 113. China and the European Union signed a 350 billion yuan (euro 45 billion) currency swap agreement, a major step in pushing international use of the Chinese currency yuan. 114. The Telecom Ministry has approved new telecom licence for pan-India 4G spectrum holder Reliance Jio Infocomm Ltd. 115. OPCW, an obscure body recently thrust into the spotlight by the Syria crisis won the Nobel Peace Prize for its work to rid the world of chemical weapons. The Hague-based OPCW was founded in 1997. 116. Industrial production dipped to a disappointing 0.6 per cent in August after some signs of improvement in the previous month. 117. A panel constituted by the Department of Telecommunications (DoT) has recommended

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that state-run BSNL be entrusted the task of solarisation of the telecom towers in the power deficient rural areas, with funding support from Universal Service Obligation Fund (USOF). Wholesale price index (WPI) inflation touched a seven-month high of 6.46 per cent in September, riding on the back of a whopping 323 per cent increase in the price of onions. India summoned the Pakistan Deputy High Commissioner Mansoor Ahmad Khan to the Ministry of External Affairs to protest the firing on high seas that killed a fisherman. India has improved its ranking from 65 to 63 in the Global Hunger Index, making a marginal improvement since 2012. The index is prepared by the International Food Policy Research Institute along with Welthungerhilfe and Concern Worldwide. China defended its issuing of stapled visas to two Arunachal Pradesh athletes, describing its policy as showing flexibility to allow travel while the boundary dispute remains unresolved. The Central Bureau of Investigation filed an FIR naming Aditya Birla Group chairman Kumar Mangalam Birla and former Coal Secretary P.C. Parekh for having allegedly entered into a criminal conspiracy to facilitate the partial allocation of an Odisha coal block to the groups subsidiary Hindalco Industries about eight years ago. The Environment Ministry has decided to turn approximately 60,000 square kilometres of the Western Ghats across six States into an Ecologically Sensitive Area (ESA), banning mining, quarrying, thermal power plants and polluting industries over the entire range. The decision has been taken by the Environment and Forests Minister Jayanthi Natarajan as a follow-up to the two reports on the Ghats, one headed by ecologist Madhav Gadgil and the other by Planning Commission member K. Kasturirangan. Switzerland became the worlds 58th nation to sign the Multilateral Convention on Mutual Administrative Assistance in Tax Matters. The agreement prepared by taxation experts from the Paris-based Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), which

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has led the war against tax havens in recent years. Union Minister for Rural Development Jairam Ramesh said the 2013 Land Acquisition Act would come into force on January 1, 2014. The Bar Council of India has urged the Centre to withdraw the Judicial Appointments Commission Bill providing for constitution of a National Judicial Commission (NJC) for appointment of judges of High Courts and the Supreme Court as it interfered with the independence of the judiciary and would affect the basic structure of the Constitution. India signed an agreement with Finland to produce indigenous ethanol to promote use of clean technologies and cut down the oil import bill. ONGC and Finnish clean technology firm Chempolis will set up a pilot project to produce ethanol. External Affairs Minister Salman Khurshid visited Brazil. The Union Urban Development Ministry has finally recognised the ban on cycles imposed in Kolkata as a contravention of the National Urban Transport Policy, 2006, and decided to take up the issue with the Mamata Banerjee government. In August, the West Bengal government announced the ban on cycles, hand-carts, pull-carts, tri-cycles and other nonmotorised transport in 174 major and minor roads. Eleanor Catton, the 28-year old author from New Zealand has won the Man Booker prize 2013 for her novel, The Luminaries. She is not only the youngest novelist to win this prize. Ms. Catton is also the last winner of the Booker prize in its present format, confined to writers from the Commonwealth countries and Ireland. From next year, the prize will be opened up to writers from all countries. The World Bank has lowered its forecast for Indias economic growth in the current fiscal year to 4.7 per cent from 6.1 per cent it had projected in April. With an aim to make the reverse mortgage facility more attractive for senior citizens, the government has extended the period of the scheme from 20 years to the life of the person

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seeking funds from banks by pledging his residential property. The Centre informed the Supreme Court that there was no ground to make a presidential reference for removing Justice K.G. Balakrishnan as chairperson of the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) for alleged acts of misbehaviour. The World Bank has praised India's evacuation of nearly 10 lakh people in Odisha and Andhra Pradesh, which ensured minimal loss of human lives, before the cyclone Phailin made landfall and attributed it to its years of disaster management preparedness. The minimum support price for wheat has been hiked by Rs. 50 a quintal in the 2013-14 rabi marketing season. It will now be Rs.1,400 a quintal. Saudi Arabia has rejected a rotating seat at the Security Council, as a mark of protest against the perceived inaction by the world body against Syria. The kingdom had for the first time been elected by the General Assembly to become a non-permanent member. Chinas economy grew by 7.8 per cent in the third quarter, the fastest growth recorded this year so far. The U.S. has quietly decided to release more than $1.6 billion in military and economic aid to Pakistan that was suspended when relations between the two countries disintegrated in the 2011-12 period. India bristled at Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif seeking American intervention on resolving the Kashmir dispute and pointed out that this view went against its long-held position of resolving the territorial dispute through bilateral dialogue. To prevent leakages in the public distribution system, the Union government has decided to allow the States to construct intermediary godowns under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA) for storage of grains. For this, the Rural Development Ministry will provide Rs. 450 crore in the first phase for the creation of a capacity of 15 lakh tonnes.

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141. Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff announced a plan to host a global meeting on Internet governance in April next year. 142. Congress member of the Rajya Sabha Rashid Masood became the first MP to lose his seat after the Supreme Court struck down a provision in the electoral law that protected a convicted lawmaker from disqualification on the ground of pendency of appeal in higher courts. 143. The Tax Administration Reform Commission (TARC) headed by Parthasarathi Shome, is expected to submit its report in six months. 144. India agreed to initiate an exercise for a free trade agreement with the customs union of Belarus, Kazakhstan and Russia to enhance economic ties. The joint statement was issued after the 14th India-Russia annual summit meeting between Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Russian President Vladimir Putin. 145. Empowered Committee on film certification has mandated that no State government can order the suspension of a film. The draft Cinematograph Bill, 2013 posted on the Information & Broadcasting Ministrys website for drawing comments. 146. Finance Minister P. Chidambaram said the government was monitoring the top 30 NPA accounts in each public sector bank, and asked the lenders to set up separate verticals to recover money from written-off accounts. 147. India and China agreed that in any face-off on the Line of Actual Control (LAC) they will not use force against each other. This was among a set of confidence building measures contained in the Border Defence Co-operation Agreement between India and China, signed by both sides at the conclusion of talks between Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Chinese Premier Li Keqiang. 148. BJP named Harsh Vardhan as its chief ministerial candidate for the December Assembly elections. 149. The Finance Ministry announced that it would infuse Rs.14,000 crore capital in various banks this fiscal, including Rs.2,000 crore in State Bank of India and Rs.1,800 crore each in IDBI Bank and Central Bank of India. 150. Tamil Nadu Assembly called for a total boycott of the Commonwealth Heads of Government

Meeting (CHOGM) to be held in Sri Lanka in November. 151. The Foreign Investment Promotion Board (FIPB) has given its nod to Singapore Airlines (SIA) to set up a full service airline in India in partnership with the Tata Group. The two companies plan to set up the airline with an initial investment of $100 million, where the Tatas will pump in $51 million, while SIA will invest $49 million.

152. India was ranked 101 out of 136 countries on a global gender gap index. The index, compiled by Geneva-based World Economic Forum. 153. The Department of Telecommunications (DoT) is readying a proposal to bring mobile tower companies under the licensing regime, following governments decision to allow 100 per cent foreign direct investment in the telecom sector. 154. The World Bank has approved an assistance of $250 million for Uttarakhand, which was hit hard by flood. 155. Mr. Modi lays the foundation of a 597-foot Sardar Patel idol (called the Statue of Unity), billed to be taller than the Statue of Liberty. 156. Five persons were killed and 83 injured in multiple blasts that rocked Patnas Gandhi Maidan and railway station hours before the BJPs prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi was to address a Hunkar rally in Patna. 157. UK has scrapped its controversial 3,000-pound "security bond" for some "high-risk" foreign visitors, including those from India. 158. Governments fiscal deficit touched 76 per cent of the budget estimate (BE) in the first six months of 2013-14. 159. India has slipped by five places to 106th spot out of 142 countries in the World Prosperity Index. while Norway continues to remain at the top. 160. World Bank estimates that India received USD 69.4 billion in 2012, followed by China and the Philippines receiving USD 60.2 billion and USD 24.5 billion, respectively.

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161. The Planning Commission has decided the Raghuram Rajan committee report on the development index for states will not work for distribution of all central funds. Instead, a committee comprising plan panel members Mihir Shah and Abhijit Sen has been set up for a fresh look at the issues involved in transferring money to state governments from plan budget. 162. Inaugurating the ISO 20022-compliant system RBI Governor Raghuram Rajan said the new real time gross settlement (RTGS) system for fund transfers will improve the efficiency of the country's financial markets. It will replace the operating guidelines and regulations of 2004. 163. Addressing the 11th ASEAN-India Summit in Brunei, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh also said that India was ready to sign a Free Trade Agreement (FTA) with ASEAN on services and investment to boost their bilateral trade to USD 100 billion by 2015, from USD 76 billion last year.

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