INSTITUTE OF BANKING SERVICES: CURRENT AFFAIRS FROM AUG 24-SEP 01, 2011

Supreme Court: Compensation for land acquisitions to be based on market

value

The Supreme Court held that compensation given by the Govt to farmers when

acquiring their land should be decided on the basis of its market value

The court passed the order while hearing a bunch of petitions filed by the land

owners seeking enhanced compensation for their land which is situated on the

Ambala-Chandigarh Highway

SC also increased the base price from Rs 2.75 Lakh per hectare to Rs 4.09 Lakh

rupees per acre for the land which was acquired by the Punjab government

The court said the owners are entitled to the highest value which similar land in

the locality is shown to have fetched

SC instructs Hospitals to formulate a mechanism for free treatment to

poor

The Supreme Court has directed that private hospitals getting subsidized land

can’t run away from its responsibility to give free treatment to economically

weaker section of society

Extracting some of the hospitals for not giving free treatment to the poor,

Supreme court demanded them to formulate a system with Delhi Government in

order to ensure this

Meanwhile, the court ordered that patients from Government Hospitals be referred

to such private hospitals which would provide free treatment

National Transitional Council to take Libya’s seat in League’s council

The Arab League announced that Libya’s rebel National Transitional Council (NTC)

will be the legitimate representative of the Libyan people

With this Libya will return to its permanent seat on the League’s council

The NTC will be the legitimate representative of the Libyan state in the meeting of

Arab League

The Arab League suspended Libya’s membership in February,2011 after

Muammar Gaddafi’s forces launched a crackdown to try to stop the uprising

spreading in the east of the country

Bank supervision department to handle corruption complaints in Public

Sector Banks

In order to deal with complaints of charges of corruption in the Public Sector

Banks, a special investigation cell in the banking supervision department of RBI

has been created

Finance Minister Mr. Pranab Mukherjee informed that apart from this an officer in

the Cabinet Secretariat will also scrutinize the complaints received against Board

level appointees of public sector banks

The nature of complaints against Board level appointees include allegations of

writing of loans, taking over of accounts, other banks and irregularities in grant of

advances

Current Affairs : August 25, 2011

2011-08-25 19:08:52 GKToday

The abuse of official position and possessing disproportionate assets by them are

also being investigated

Japan PM Naoto Kan Resigns

Japanese Prime Minister Naoto Kan has announced his resignation

Thus the next PM for Japan would be the 6th one in last 5 years

Mr Kan said that as promised on 2 June, he is resigning as the leader of

the DPJ. He said, once the new leader is selected, he will also resign as

the Prime Minister

Kan’s decision to stand down was widely expected, in the midst of

falling approval ratings and party infighting

No case pending against Indian student of Tri Valley University: Sibal

The Government announced that there is no more case pending against any

Indian student who studied in the Tri Valley University in USA

India had already made it very clear to the US authorities that any inhuman

treatment to Students would be unacceptable

1800 Students were affected after the university was shut down in January 2011

In the case of Tri-Valley university, the Government interfered via diplomatic and

political channels to assure the safety of the Indian students

Indian Mission and Consulates in the US are on a regular basis meeting the

affected Students and providing all possible assistance to them

India has already conveyed to the US government that Indian students should be

given sufficient Time and opportunity to transfer to other universities or return to

India honorably

Government emphasizes to prohibit corporal punishment in Schools

Government has emphasized that corporal punishment in schools is prohibited

Expressing concern over the rising cases of corporal punishment by teachers in

schools, the HRD minister Kapil Sibal expressed that the CBSE has issued

directions to its associated Schools not to resort to physical punishment of

Students

National Commission for Protection of Child Rights had also received complaints

Mr Sibal expressed that under the Right of Children to Free and Compulsory

Education Act, 2009, no child between 6 to 14 years of age shall be subjected to

physical punishment or mental harassment

Mother Teresa’s 101st birth anniversary: 26th August 2011

Mother Teresa (26 August 1910 – 5 September 1997), born Agnes

Gonxha Bojaxhiu, was a Catholic nun of Albanian ethnicity and Indian

citizenship,who founded the Missionaries of Charity in Calcutta, India

in 1950

For over 45 years she ministered in her own way to the poor, sick,

orphaned, and dying, while guiding the Missionaries of Charity’s

expansion, first throughout India and then in other countries.

Following her death she was beatified by Pope John Paul II and given the title

Blessed Teresa of Calcutta

She received numerous awards, including a number from the Indian Government,

one of which was the Bharat Ratna (1980), as well as international awards, such as

the Nobel Peace Prize in 1979

Gujarat Governor appoints Justice R.A Mehta As Lokayukta

Gujarat Governor appointed former Justice of Gujarat High Court

Justice R.A. Mehta as Lokayukta in Gujarat

Under the Lokayukt Act of Gujarat, 1986, the Governor has the

power to appoint Lokayukt in the State on the recommendation of

Chief Justice of Gujarat High Court

Chief Justice of Gujarat High Court had already recommended the

name of former Judge Justice R.A. Mehta as Lokayukt but the State Government

was not appointing Lokayukt in the State since last seven years

Justice R.A. Mehta was appointed as Lokayukt in the State for a 5-year term

LG ICC Awards 2011 to be held in London on September 12, 2011

The ICC Awards is a set of sports awards for cricket. The awards

recognise and honour the best international cricket players of the

previous 12 months

Current Affairs: August 26, 2011

2011-08-26 19:08:26 GKToday

The Awards has been institutionalized by International Cricket

Council since 2004

2011:Clive Lloyd (Chairman)

This year’s LG ICC Awards includes 10 individual prizes, including the LG People’s

Choice Award and also features a newly designed Spirit of Cricket Award which

honours a moment by an international player that has most adhered to the Spirit

of Cricket

The LG ICC Awards ceremony is now in its eighth year and this year it will be held

in London, England. Previous ceremonies were held in London (2004), Sydney

(2005), Mumbai (2006), Johannesburg (2007 and 2009), Dubai (2008)

and Bengaluru (2010).

India’s 1st FIBA 3×3 Youth World Basketball Team announced

The Basketball Federation of India declared 4-member Under-18 boys and girls

teams that will represent the country at the first FIBA Invitational 3×3 Youth

World Championship, to be held at Rimini, Italy from September 9,2011

3×3 Basketball is the formalised version of three-on-three half-court

basketball

The format got its first major international test at the 2010 Youth Olympics in

Singapore

The fast-paced games are played on one half of the FIBA regulation court

Each team will consist of four players, of whom three will be on court at any given

time, and one coach

The Team members are:

Boys Team Coach: Kulwinder Singh Gill

Girls Team Coach: Pete Gaudet

Justice Dinakaran’s plea rejected by Supreme Court

Supreme Court dismissed former Chief Justice of Sikkim High Court P D

Dinakaran’s plea questioning the Rajya Sabha-appointed committee’s verdict to

cast charges against him by allegedly going past its jurisdiction

A bench headed by Justice G S Singhvi also dismissed his contention that the

panel has no power to carry on preliminary enquiry against him

Justice Dinakaran had resigned from the post in view of impeachment proceedings

against him

Mr. Dinakaran had argued the committee had exceeded its jurisdiction by framing

14 charges on the basis of fresh complaints whereas there were only 12 charges

at the time when the motion was introduced in Parliament

Mr. Dinakaran faces various charges including accumulating disproportional

wealth and judicial misbehavior

Mr. Dinakaranhad asserted that the new allegations against him were “ultra vires”

as they went beyond the original charges contained in the Rajya Sabha motion

6 States get New Governors

State New Governor

Tamil

Nadu

Former Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister K

Rosaiah

Madhya

Pradesh

Senior Congress leader Ram Naresh Yadav

Mizoram V Purushothaman

Jharkhand Syed Ahmed

Kerala Jharkhand Governor M O H Farooq transferred

and appointed as Governor of Kerala for the

remaining period of his term

Goa Maharashtra Governor K Sankaranarayanan

given an additional charge

Hanging in Rajiv Gandhi case on Sept 9, 2011

On September 9, 2011 the 3 convicts in the Rajiv Gandhi assassination case to be

hanged

The mercy petition of the three convicts Santhan, Murugan and Perarivalan to the

President of India has been rejected

The Superintendent of the Vellore Central Prison conveyed the information to the

three convicts and also fixed the date of execution

Their plea was rejected by the President 20 years after the assassination of Rajiv

Gandhi and 11 years after the submission of the petitions

Bulava ballistic missile successfully Test-Launched by Russia

A second Bulava intercontinental ballistic missile was successfully

test-launched by the Russian nuclear submarine Yuri Dolgoruky

For the first time the Bulava missile had been launched at the

maximum distance from the White Sea to the Pacific Ocean

The weapon satisfyingly reached its target

Bulava likely to become Russia’s key naval strategic missile

Bulava has the potential of carrying 10 warheads with a range of 8,000 Km

Foundation stone of Integrated Check Post at Petrapole laid by

P.Chidambaram

P. Chidambaram (Home Minister) laid the foundation stone of an

Integrated Check Post at Petrapole border along Bangladesh at

North 24 Pargana district in West Bengal

Objective:

To provide facilities like immigration, customs, quarantine and

smooth cross-border movement of persons, goods and transport under one

umbrella

The project to be built with an investment of Rs 172 Crore and to be completed by

January 2013

Government has decided to set up 13 Integrated Check Posts in the country out of

Current Affairs : August 27, 2011

2011-08-27 19:08:47 GKToday

which 7 to be along Indo-Bangladesh border

As per Mr.Chidambaram the project will strengthen bi-lateral ties between the two

countries

The Intergrated Check Post will ease the infrastructural bottlenecks at entry and

exit points on the land border of the country

It will also increase the volume of trade and commerce between two nations

Tata Steel Hockey Tournament: SAIL Hockey Academy wins

SAIL Hockey Academy run by Rourkela Steel Plant (RSP)

SAIL Hockey Team won the Tata Steel Hockey Tournament

SAIL Team defeated Central Excellence team of Panposh Sports Hostel at

Sundargarh

Edna Kiplagat wins first gold medal of World Athletics

Ms. Edna Kiplagat (31) of Kenya has won the first gold medal of the 2011

World Athletics championships at Daegu, South Korea

This was also her first world title .

‘Sense Of House’ adopted by Parliament on 3 major issues lifted by Anna

Hazare

Parliament unanimously agreed to a resolution in principle to 3 demands of the

Anna Hazare Camp

Both the Houses (Lok Sabha and the Rajya Sabha) settled to the resolution

communicating the sense of the two Houses on the demands of Team Anna

The demands included:

Bringing lower bureaucracy under the ambit of the Lokpal

Setting up of Lok Ayukatas at State Levels

Charter that makes response of the Government to citizen’s issues time bound

The Houses also determined that the declaration will be sent to the Standing

Committee now looking into Lokpal bill for its inspection

600,000 lives a year can be saved via Vit-A Supplements

Researchers lay claim that providing Vitamin A supplements to children under 5

years of age in nations can save 6,00,000 lives yearly

Pakistani and UK specialists lettering in the British Medical Journal , lay claim that

they evaluated 43 studies involving 2,00,000 children, and discovered Deaths

were cut off by 24% if children were provided the vitamin

As per the Experts, taking Vit-A would also diminish rates of diarrhoea and

measles

Vitamin A is essential for the body for the visual and immune systems to work in

good order

Vit-A is present in foods like cheese, oily fish and eggs, liver etc.

Tony Tan wins Singapore presidential election

Former Deputy Prime Minister of Singapore Tony Tan won

presidential election after vote recount

He defeated top challenger, Tan Cheng Bock

The election taken as a referendum on the ruling People’s Action Party , which has led the country since 1959

SC: PM, CMs have discretion to disburse relief funds

According to Supreme Court ruling Prime Minister and Chief Ministers have

the discretion to disburse amounts from relief funds to victims of calamities

and crime.

It nullified a Rajasthan High Court judgement that a Chief Minister cannot

grant compensation from his relief fund in an arbitrary manner to rape

victims and the compensation must be uniform.

According to the judgement, the disbursal of relief amount is purely ex-gratia

at the discretion of the Chief Minister.

Sandeep and Sardara banned for two years by Hockey India

Hockey India slapped a two-year ban on star players Sandeep

Singh and Sardara Singh for repeated indisciplinary activities

The sanction imposed on both the players after a meeting of

Hockey India key members, including secretary general Narinder

Batra

The two players reportedly left the Bangalore camp after some altercation with

the coach

Arab League forms ministerial committee with the aim to solve Syria crisis

The Arab League will form ministerial committee with an aim to solve the crisis in

Syria

The committee is set to visit Damascus with an Arab initiative to solve Syria’s

crisis

The committee members are from Jordan, Tunisia, Qatar and Oman as well as

Arab League chief

Syria is witnessing a dangerous crisis that requires Arab cooperation to overcome

The committee called on the United Nations and countries in the world to unfreeze

Libya’s assets. They also urged the United Nations to provide Libya’s seat in the

Current Affairs : August 28, 2011

2011-08-28 04:08:15 GKToday

world body to the National Transition Council (NTC)

India positioned 8th in WSF Men’s World Team Squash Championship

India finished eighth in the WSF Men’s World Team Squash Championship held at

Paderborn,Germany

India lost 0-2 to the United States in the classification match for the seventh place

National champion Sourav Ghosal lost the first singles to Julian Illingworth, while

Mahesh Mangaonkar lost the second singles to Todd Harrity

Egypt retained its title after defeating England 2-1 in the final played at the

Ahorn-Sportpark

It was 23rd World Squash Federation event, hosted by Germany for the first time,

participated by a record 32 nations and more than 120 athletes

Dr Baburam Bhattarai wins Nepal’s Prime Minister Election

UCPN (maoist) party Vice Chairman Dr. Baburam Bhattarai elected as

the Prime Minister

Dr. Baburam defeated his rival Ram Chandra Poudel from Nepali

Congress

Dr. Bhattarai was supported by the Samyukta Loktantrik Madhesi

Morcha an alliance of five Madhes-based parties

Samyukta Loktantantrik madhesi Morcha is an alliance of five parties that

supported Bhattarai and the decision came after a four point deal was signed

between the Alliance & the Maoists.

ICAR working on scheme to increase Agriculture productivity

ICAR- country’s premier agri-research body, is working on a scheme

to increase agricultural productivity by providing exact information to

farmers on the type of crops they should grow, fertiliser and water

requirements through the use of global positioning system (GPS)

technology

Jainpur in Meerut and Matiala in Ghaziabad are the two villages of

Western Uttar Pradesh where the initiative is being implemented by

the Project Directorate for Farming System Research (PDFSR), an institute of ICAR

in Meerut.

According to PDFSR India’s agricultural land is shrinking rapidly so there is a need

to conserve and utilise the natural resources for maximum productivity by using

appropriate techniques of farming system

ICAR developed an integrated farming system, in this system rice cultivation is

integrated with pisciculture and poultry farming, which increases the productivity

by up to four times.

Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna award conferred on ace shooter Gagan Narang by

the President

President Pratibha Devisingh Patil conferred the Rajiv Gandhi

Khel Ratna award for the year 2011 on ace shooter Gagan

Narang.

She also presented 15 Arjuna awards along with 5

Dronacharya awards and 3 Dhyanchand awards at

Rashtrapati Bhawan

Narang received the country’s highest sporting award for his contribution to the

sport of shooting. He had clinched four gold medals at last year’s Commonwealth

Games in New Delhi

CBI forms Special Investigating Team to study CAG report on CWG

CBI’s SIT (Special Investigating Team) to study the CAG’s report on

Commonwealth Games

SIT, headed by a Joint Director, to collaborate with other investigating agencies

viz. IT Dept. and Enforcement Directorate

SIT to advise on any new case if possible, apart from 14 regular cases and 3

Preliminary Enquiries, which were registered by the agency on recommendations

of the Central Vigilance Commission

Privilege notices against actor Om Puri and civil rights activist Kiran Bedi

Members in both Houses of Parliament gave Privilege notices

against actor Om Puri and civil rights activist Kiran Bedi

Reason: Using derogatory and defamatory language against

politicians

Puri and Bedi had allegedly targeted politicians During Anna

Hazare’s agitation at Ramlila grounds on the Lokpal issue and

then reportedly used derogatory and defamatory language against them

Yoshihiko Noda elected as new Prime Minister of Japan

Yoshihiko Noda elected as the new Prime Minister of Japan following the majority of votes in elections held at

the House of Representatives, which is more powerful in the Diet or Parliament

Noda becomes Japan’s sixth Prime Minister since 2006

Mr. Noda, the former finance minister secured the leadership of the ruling Democratic Party

Ex-PM Naoto Kan formally resigned with his cabinet on accusations of his handling of the March quake

Draft guidelines on new banking licenses by RBI

RBI unveiled the draft guidelines for new banking licenses

The minimum required capital to set up a bank by a corporate is

set at Rs 500 Crore in comparison to the present requirement of

Current Affairs : August 29, 2011

2011-08-29 04:08:40 GKToday

Rs 300 Crore

As per the new draft, the aggregate foreign shareholding in the new bank should

not exceed 49% for the first 5 years as against the current 74%

On the corporate structure, the new banks to be set up only via a wholly-owned

non-operative holding company registered with the Reserve Bank as a NFBC (Non-

Banking Finance Company)

Private sector entities or groups owned and controlled by Indian promoters will be

eligible to promote banks which have diversified ownership, sound credentials and

integrity, and a successful track record of at least 10 years

However, entities or groups having 10% or more income or assets, or both, from

real estate, construction and broking activities, individually or taken together, in

the last three years, will not be eligible to set up new banks

A special package by the Government to provide solar energy in Naxal

affected areas

Government to provide a special package (under the

Jawaharlal Nehru National Solar Mission) to supply solar

energy in the Naxal affected areas

Solar Lanterns and Solar home lighting systems to be provided

under the scheme

30% financial assistance to be given towards cost of installation

in general category states

90% of the cost to be borne by the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy

to special category states including Naxal hit areas

Financial aid being provided under the Remote Village Electrification

Programme for installation of renewable energy systems for electricity in the

remote villages

These remote villages are not likely to be connected by grid power under the

Rajiv Gandhi Grameen Vidyutikaran Yojana

Expansion of CBWE is being considered by the Government

According to the government, expansion of Central Board of

Workers’ Education (CBWE), is under consideration on the

basis of recommendations made by a government agency.

Government may consider for increasing allowance of Rs 50 per

day to unorganised sector workers during the awareness

programmes.

Government has increased its budget allocation for awareness programmes run by

the Board.

The Central Board for Workers Education is providing financial assistance for

bringing awareness among the workers of organised and unorganised sectors. The

assistance is provided through trade union organisations and institutions.

Road Safety Audit by the Government

Government undertook the road safety audit for the selected stretches of National

Highways and Express ways

Objective: To make Roads accident free

Highway Authority follows Indian Road Congress (IRC) specifications in order to

minimize the possibility of accidents

Government contemplating to increase export duty on iron ore

In order to discourage its export Government is considering increasing duty on

iron ore

Government has thus increased the duty from 5% to 20%

The % of iron ore being exported from India is reducing regularly

In 2008-09, it has reduced from around 106 million tonnes to over 97 million

tonnes

The total domestic consumption of iron ore in last fiscal was over 111 million tones

and its production is about double the consumption in the domestic market

Steps being taken to make available necessary iron ore by the steel plants across

the country

State Governments have been asked for taking stringent actions to check illegal

mining of iron ore

Eminent Malayalam theatre personality Dr Vayala Vasudevan Pillai passes

away

Dr Vayala Vasudevan Pillai: Eminent Malayalam theatre

personality and playwright

Dr Pillai passed away

For the past 4 decades Dr Pillai was actively involved in all

aspects of Malayalam theatre from writing and direction to

teaching and research

He received three national awards including the Sangeeth

Natak Akademi award and nine state awards

His important works include: Vishwadarshanam, Thulaseevaram, Agni,

Rangabhasha, Varavelppu, Swarnakokkukal among others

Pakistan ready to give MFN Status to India

As per the Indian Government the relations between India and

Pakistan will strengthen economic ties between the two

countries once Pakistan grants Most Favoured Nation status

to India

MFN status will give a big boost to trade between the two countries which is

already worth Rs 17,000 Crore

Carmelita Jeter wins women’s 100m world title in Athletics

Carmelita Jeter of the United States won the women’s 100

meters title at the world athletics championships at Daegu,

South Korea

Right to reject candidates in elections a tricky affair: Chief Election

Commission

According to the Election Commission, the demand for the right to reject

candidates in elections as a ticklish affair.

According to Chief Election Commissioner, S Y Quraishi, the proposed right of

people to reject candidates required a bit of debate considering a situation of

majority of the people rejecting all candidates. The poll authority would rather

give voter education and ask them to come out in large numbers to choose a good

candidate.

According to Chief Election Commission the right to recall candidates has not been

on the agenda of the Commission.

Nuclear Regulatory Authority of India Bill Approved by the Union Cabinet

The Union Cabinet of India on 30 August 2011 cleared the Nuclear Regulatory Authority of India Bill that supports an Autonomous Atomic

Energy Regulatory Board.

The rules of implementation of nuclear liability law have been finalized by a high level panel.

The bill would help setting up an authority that would subsume the Atomic Energy Regulatory Board (AERB).

The AERB was set up in 1983 and it reports to the Atomic Energy Commission.

The bill proposed to give Nuclear Regulatory Authority of India (NRAI) full authority to stop construction work and order a shutdown of an

operating nuclear plant.

The bill would strengthen the country’s nuclear regulator by making it a statutory body. It also proposed that the NRAI order cannot be

challenged in a court of law.

The authority will include renowned persons from engineering, environment, social, nuclear and finance areas.

Supreme Court: Hiring a Lawyer not Mandatory for a Person to Fight his Case in Consumer Forum

According to The Supreme Court, hiring a lawyer is not mandatory for a person to fight his case in a consumer forum and he can plead his

case personally or through his agent.

It ruled that it is clearly mentioned in the Consumer Protection Act that a person can plead his case through his agent and it will be against

the consumer to force him to hire the services of an advocate for his case.

The court rejected the plea of Bar Council of India which pleaded that only advocates should be allowed to appear before a consumer forum.

Country celebrates Eid-ul-Fitr

Eid-ul-Fitr celebrated throughout the country with religious fervour and festivity marking the culmination of the holy month of Ramazan.

Eid-ul-Fitr, popularly known as the “Festival of Breaking of the Fast”, occurs as soon as the new moon is sighted at the end of the month of

fasting, namely Ramadan. This festival celebrates the end of Ramzan, the Muslim month of fasting.

Yoshihiko Noda elected as new Prime Minister of Japan

Yoshihiko Noda elected as the new Prime Minister of Japan following the majority of votes in elections held at the House

of Representatives.

Current Affairs : August 30, 2011

2011-08-30 04:08:28 GKToday

Noda becomes Japan’s sixth Prime Minister since 2006.

Kerala celebrates Atham festival

Atham, harbingers the ten day long Onam festivities in Kerala.

Atham is celebrated to welcome the legendary king Mahabali who is believed to visit homes on Thiruvonam day. The Onam festivities

culminate on the tenth day of Atham on Thiruvonam day.

To address mental health problem Government inks MoU with University

of Melbourne

A MoU was signed in Delhi between the Health and Family Welfare Ministry and University of Melbourne to address the problem of mental

health in the country and the treatment gap on it.

Four key pilot sites across India have been identified for the program

Over the next two years, each of the four field sites will be supported by a tertiary care mental health institute and a local administrative

committee representing the broad community stakeholders in partnership with the Health and Family Welfare ministry.

Argentine football superstar Lionel Messi arrives in Kolkata

Argentine superstar Lionel Messi arrived in Kolkata for a friendly match

against Venezuela

$ 230 Million given by the British Royal Air Force to Central Bank in Libya

About $ 230 Million dollars worth Cash delivered by the British Royal Air Force to

the Central Bank in Libya in Benghazi

This newly-minted stock is part of bigger consignment which is being printed in

Britain

The delivery was however halted in the beginning of the crisis to due to a possible

danger of money being controlled by Col. Gaddafi’s men

Elimination of Plan & Non-Plan distinction in Budget proposed by the

Expert Committee

Elimination of plan and non plan distinction in the Budget has been proposed by

the Expert Committee set up by the Planning Commission

As per Dr. C. Rangarajan: Shift in budeting approach is necessary to achieve the

coveted targets

As per Dr Rajan, the Chairman of Prime Minister’s Economic Advisory Council, this

will further assure sound and well timed execution and monitoring of the centrally

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Tuesday, 18 October 2011

CURRENT AFFAIRS FROM AUG 24-SEP 01, 2011

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