Current Affair Updates: 3rd and 4th January 2014
National Affairs
India and the Maldives have signed several pacts to jointly guard and conduct supervision to strengthen maritime security in the Indian Ocean Region. India is ready to provide further assistance to the Maldives to enhance capability to address shared security challenges. India has also broadened the line of credit up to 25 million US Dollars to the Maldives. Both countries have made a decision that they will not allow their territory to be used for terrorist activities. PM Manmohan Singh hailed the Maldivian government and people for peaceful Presidential elections to merge democracy in the island nation. According to Yameen Abdul Gayoom, President of Maldives said that India’s assistance to his country for development over the years. Gayoom who took charge as a Maldivian PM is on a four-day official visit to the country. The visit will give a chance to further augment the close and multifaceted relations between India and the Maldives.
Terming the India-Maldives relationship as phenomenal, Maldivian President Yameen Abdul Gayoom mentioned India’s assistance to his country for development over the years. Gayoom who assumed office in November last year is on a four-day official visit to the country. The visit would provide an opportunity to further enhance the close and multifaceted relations between India and the Maldives.
India and Saudi Arabia will soon ink an agreement on labour cooperation on domestic workers’ recruitment. The pact will be signed during the three-day visit of the Saudi Labour Minister in India. This is the first time that the two countries will be signing on labour-related matters. The standard work contract will specify requirements to be adhered to at the time of selection and immigration of such people.
The sixth edition of International Theatre Festival of Kerala (ITFOK) will commence from January 27 and will end at February 3. Kerala Sangeetha Nataka Akademi will be conducting the festival in Thrissur, Kerala. The theme of the festival is gender, transition and spectatorship which have contemporary reverberation. The sixth edition will showcase international plays from 9 countries. Above 22 ground-breaking plays from national and international theatre companies were invited for the event.
Maninder Singh Dhir of Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) has been elected as the new Speaker of Delhi Assembly with the backing of Congress, JD (U) and an Independent. Dhir got 37 votes from MLAs while Jagdish Mukhi, a BJP candidate received 32 votes from MLAs of his party and alliance party Akali Dal. Overall the house has total 70 members including the Speaker. Dhir will replace Congress MLA Dr Yoganand Shastri.
A Connect card has been launched by Indian Overseas Bank to target public sector and young individuals. The IOB-Connect Card is a new ATM cum Debit card in association with VISA which can be used for e-commerce across 5 lakh merchant outlets. The Connect Card, ATM cum Debit card has been provided to all IOB customers that has been targeted at the younger generation aged between 10 and 28 years. These cards can be used at above 5 lakh outlets in addition to online shopping. Also to encourage e-payments, the bank offers 5% cash back offer till the end of financial year of 2014. Moreover, the bank has also launched Channel Financing for its institutional, corporate and SME credit customers.
Appointment
Manoj Vaish is the newly appointed Managing Director (MD) and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Multi Commodity Exchange of India Ltd (MCX). Presently, Vaish is the Managing Director (MD) of NSDL Database Management. Prior to this, between 1998 and 2004, he was CEO of financial services research firm Dun & Bradstreet and Executive Director of Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE).
Sunil Kumar Sood is the newly appointed General Manager of Central Railway. Earlier, Sood has worked as Chief Mechanical Engineer of Southern Railway, Chennai. He had also worked as Divisional Railway Manager (DRM) of Eastern Railway, Jodhpur Division, North Western Railway and Additional Divisional Railway Manager (ADRM) in Moradabad Division of Northern Railway. He has also held responsibilities as Chief Workshop Manager in Jamalpur and had spent eight years each at the Rail Coach Factory in the South-Eastern Railway and Kapurthala after joining Indian Railways in 1978.
Resignation
Justice A.K. Ganguly, Chairman of West Bengal Human Rights Commission has resigned from the post of honorary professor of the National University of Juridical Sciences (NUJS) faculty after a female student of NUJS and also his law intern had made allegations of sexual harassment against him. The proposal of his resignation will be sent to President Pranab Mukherjee who will revert the letter to Chief Justice of India. It’s worth mentioning here that Justice Ganguly was in news few days ago for allegedly sexually exploited the female law intern who was working with him.
Awards & Honours
Late Margaret Thatcher, the Iron lady has been voted of being the most successful post-war British Prime Minister by lawmakers in a survey. Thatcher, the former Conservative leader has been voted as the best UK PM in survey was ahead of Winston Churchill who secured fourth place in this survey. Politics and International Relations students of Royal Holloway, University of London conducted this survey. In this survey, MPs rated every leader between 1945 and 2010 where Thatcher average score was7.4, Clement Attlee the former Labour prime minister’s score was 7.3, Tony Blair another former Labour prime minister stood at third place with 6.8 while Winston Churchill the former Conservative leader secured fourth place with 6.5 average scores.
National Affairs
India and the Maldives have signed several pacts to jointly guard and conduct supervision to strengthen maritime security in the Indian Ocean Region. India is ready to provide further assistance to the Maldives to enhance capability to address shared security challenges. India has also broadened the line of credit up to 25 million US Dollars to the Maldives. Both countries have made a decision that they will not allow their territory to be used for terrorist activities. PM Manmohan Singh hailed the Maldivian government and people for peaceful Presidential elections to merge democracy in the island nation. According to Yameen Abdul Gayoom, President of Maldives said that India’s assistance to his country for development over the years. Gayoom who took charge as a Maldivian PM is on a four-day official visit to the country. The visit will give a chance to further augment the close and multifaceted relations between India and the Maldives.
Terming the India-Maldives relationship as phenomenal, Maldivian President Yameen Abdul Gayoom mentioned India’s assistance to his country for development over the years. Gayoom who assumed office in November last year is on a four-day official visit to the country. The visit would provide an opportunity to further enhance the close and multifaceted relations between India and the Maldives.
India and Saudi Arabia will soon ink an agreement on labour cooperation on domestic workers’ recruitment. The pact will be signed during the three-day visit of the Saudi Labour Minister in India. This is the first time that the two countries will be signing on labour-related matters. The standard work contract will specify requirements to be adhered to at the time of selection and immigration of such people.
The sixth edition of International Theatre Festival of Kerala (ITFOK) will commence from January 27 and will end at February 3. Kerala Sangeetha Nataka Akademi will be conducting the festival in Thrissur, Kerala. The theme of the festival is gender, transition and spectatorship which have contemporary reverberation. The sixth edition will showcase international plays from 9 countries. Above 22 ground-breaking plays from national and international theatre companies were invited for the event.
Maninder Singh Dhir of Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) has been elected as the new Speaker of Delhi Assembly with the backing of Congress, JD (U) and an Independent. Dhir got 37 votes from MLAs while Jagdish Mukhi, a BJP candidate received 32 votes from MLAs of his party and alliance party Akali Dal. Overall the house has total 70 members including the Speaker. Dhir will replace Congress MLA Dr Yoganand Shastri.
A Connect card has been launched by Indian Overseas Bank to target public sector and young individuals. The IOB-Connect Card is a new ATM cum Debit card in association with VISA which can be used for e-commerce across 5 lakh merchant outlets. The Connect Card, ATM cum Debit card has been provided to all IOB customers that has been targeted at the younger generation aged between 10 and 28 years. These cards can be used at above 5 lakh outlets in addition to online shopping. Also to encourage e-payments, the bank offers 5% cash back offer till the end of financial year of 2014. Moreover, the bank has also launched Channel Financing for its institutional, corporate and SME credit customers.
Appointment
Manoj Vaish is the newly appointed Managing Director (MD) and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Multi Commodity Exchange of India Ltd (MCX). Presently, Vaish is the Managing Director (MD) of NSDL Database Management. Prior to this, between 1998 and 2004, he was CEO of financial services research firm Dun & Bradstreet and Executive Director of Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE).
Sunil Kumar Sood is the newly appointed General Manager of Central Railway. Earlier, Sood has worked as Chief Mechanical Engineer of Southern Railway, Chennai. He had also worked as Divisional Railway Manager (DRM) of Eastern Railway, Jodhpur Division, North Western Railway and Additional Divisional Railway Manager (ADRM) in Moradabad Division of Northern Railway. He has also held responsibilities as Chief Workshop Manager in Jamalpur and had spent eight years each at the Rail Coach Factory in the South-Eastern Railway and Kapurthala after joining Indian Railways in 1978.
Resignation
Justice A.K. Ganguly, Chairman of West Bengal Human Rights Commission has resigned from the post of honorary professor of the National University of Juridical Sciences (NUJS) faculty after a female student of NUJS and also his law intern had made allegations of sexual harassment against him. The proposal of his resignation will be sent to President Pranab Mukherjee who will revert the letter to Chief Justice of India. It’s worth mentioning here that Justice Ganguly was in news few days ago for allegedly sexually exploited the female law intern who was working with him.
Awards & Honours
Late Margaret Thatcher, the Iron lady has been voted of being the most successful post-war British Prime Minister by lawmakers in a survey. Thatcher, the former Conservative leader has been voted as the best UK PM in survey was ahead of Winston Churchill who secured fourth place in this survey. Politics and International Relations students of Royal Holloway, University of London conducted this survey. In this survey, MPs rated every leader between 1945 and 2010 where Thatcher average score was7.4, Clement Attlee the former Labour prime minister’s score was 7.3, Tony Blair another former Labour prime minister stood at third place with 6.8 while Winston Churchill the former Conservative leader secured fourth place with 6.5 average scores.
