Current Affairs January 1, 2016

Union government and the World Bank signed a $50-million credit agreement

i. The Union government and the World Bank signed a $50-million credit agreement for a project aimed at helping young people from minority communities complete their education and improve their employment opportunities named Nai Manzil Scheme.

ii. The Nai Manzil Scheme is designed as an integrated education and training programme that provides youth from minority communities skills needed for different tasks in a rapidly changing world. 

iii. The agreement was signed by Mr. Kumar and Michael Haney, the World Bank’s Operations Adviser in India.

Ambitious odd-even scheme of Delhi government started off in New Delhi

i. The ambitious odd-even scheme of Delhi government, a first such intervention in the country to combat spiralling air pollution, got off to a decent start on new year  with volume of cars on the city roads coming down significantly amid deployment of thousands of policemen and and moderately augmented public transport.

ii. As the clock struck eight, the vehicular restriction policy came into effect with thousands of volunteers carrying roses also taking to the streets to assist traffic police in enforcing the pilot plan that will stay in force till January 15.

iii. Under the scheme, cars bearing odd-numbered registration plates shall ply on city roads while those with even number plates, if taken out, will attract a penalty of Rs 2,000 under relevant sections of the Motor Vehicles Act. It will be vice-versa on Saturday. Also, 25 categories of people are being given exemptions including the VIPs.

LRSAM test-fired from INS Kolkata

i. Long Range Surface-to-Air Missile (LRSAM), the missile co-developed by India and Israel, was successfully test-fired on the Western Sea Board. The missile was fired from INS Kolkata and it successfully intercepted an aerial target at extended ranges.

ii. The test-fire was jointly carried out by the Indian Navy, Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) and Israel Aerospace Industries.

iii. This was the first test for LRSAM or BARAK 8 missile in India. Earlier, on 11 November 2015, it was successfully test-fired from a range in Israel.

iv. The missile was developed by the DRDL, Hyderabad in collaboration with Israel Aerospace Industries. It has been manufactured by M/s Bharat Dynamics Limited, India.

Iran’s leading banks will soon open branches in India

i. Iran’s leading banks will open branches in India to energise commercial ties between New Delhi and Tehran. The decision was amongst a slew of commercial measures taken by the India-Iran Joint Commission that met for the first time. 

ii. After the meeting led by External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj and Iranian Finance Minister Ali Tayebnia, India decided to allow the Pasargan Bank and Parsian Bank of Iran to set up branches in New Delhi and Mumbai.

iii. A major beneficiary of normalisation of banking channels between two sides will be India which has just begun settling more than $6.5 billion energy-related pending payment, with Iran. 

Pakistan's Singer Adnan Sami gets Indian Citizenship

i. The Union Home Ministry cleared the proposal to grant Adnan Sami the citizenship of India. Mr Sami, who has been staying in India since 2011, will now have to fill a citizenship form at the Home Ministry’s office in Delhi and pay Rs 13,700.

ii. He will be given citizenship under Section 6 (I) of the Indian Citizenship Act, 1955 under the category “citizenship by naturalisation.”

iii. Lahore-born Sami first arrived in India on March 13, 2001 on a visitor’s visa with a validity of one year. It was issued by the Indian High Commission in Islamabad.

RBI asked the banks to open banks in villages with a population of more than 5000.

i. India’s central bank has asked the lenders to open more brick and mortar branches in villages with no banking facilities and with a population of more than 5,000. The banking regulator has asked banks to submit a roadmap on how many branches they will be opening by 31 March 2017. Banks have to submit the roadmap by end of January 2016.

ii. RBI observed that coverage of banking services in unbanked villages is skewed towards the BC model and the ratio of branches to BC is very low. Therefore, it has been decided to focus on villages with population above 5,000 without a bank branch of a scheduled commercial bank. 

iii. This will also enable banks to provide quality financial services and timely support to BC outlets that would help in sustaining and strengthening the services provided through BCs and also ensure close supervision of BC operations.

D.K.Hota to be the new CMD of defence PSU BEML Ltd

The Public Enterprises Selection Board has recommended D.K.Hota to be the new CMD of defence PSU BEML Ltd. He is currently Director (HR) of the Bengaluru-based BEML. He has been on deputation at BEML from oil marketing major HPCL for the past two years.

Harpal Singh Kumar received Knighthood from Queen Elizabeth II 

i. An Indian-origin cancer research expert Harpal Singh Kumar received a Knighthood from Queen Elizabeth II for his influential work on prevention and treatment of cancer. His name appeared in the annual New Year’s Honours list that includes several other Indian-origin individuals.

ii. Samir Desai, founder-CEO of Funding Circle, received a Commander of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire (CBE) for his work in the field of financial inclusion. Chairman of Sun Mark Ltd, Raminder Singh Ranger, was awarded a CBE for services to business and community cohesion.

iii. Among the Officer of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire (OBE) list were Kala Patel, managing director of Kiddycare Ltd Nurseries, for services to childcare  business and Daljit Lally, deputy chief executive of Northumberland Country Council, for services to integrated care.

Ashwin becomes the no.1 Test Bowler

i. Star India off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin ended 2015 as the No. 1 Test bowler in the ICC rankings issued on the back of his strong showing against South Africa in the recent home series.

ii. Ashwin, who took 62 wickets in nine Tests this year including 31 scalps in the four matches against South Africa, became the first India bowler since Bishen Bedi in 1973 to achieve the milestone of finishing the year on top.

iii. Ashwin achieved the number-one spot for first time in his career after injury prevented South African Dale Steyn from bowling more than 3.5 overs in England’s second innings in the Durban Test.

Indian Test captain Virat Kohli named ‘BCCI Cricketer of the Year’

i. Indian Test captain Virat Kohli was named ‘Cricketer of the Year’, while Mithali Raj was picked for the M.A. Chidambaram Trophy for the best women’s cricketer.

ii. Under Kohli, the Indian team ended a 22-year wait for a series win on Sri Lankan soil before battering world No.1 South Africa to give them their first overseas loss in nine years. Mithali, on the other hand, became the first Indian woman and second overall to complete 5,000 runs in ODI format this year.iii. In other awards, former wicketkeeper Syed Kirmani will be presented the Col. C.K. Nayudu Lifetime Achievement Award. Karnataka all-rounder Robin Uthappa has been picked for the Madhavrao Scindia Award for being the highest run-scorer in Ranji Trophy.

Magnus Carlsen won the Qatar Masters Open chess tournament 

i. World champion Magnus Carlsen of Norway won the Qatar Masters Open chess tournament, billed as the strongest Open in history. The top seed had finished with seven  points, the same as Yu Yangyi of China, seeded 11th. He drew his 10th and final round encounter with former World champion  Vladimir Kramnik of Russia, while Yu defeated Wesley So of the United States.

ii. Surya Shekhar Ganguly was the best-placed Indian, at 10th. 

Laxmi Ratan Shukla announced his retirement

i. Former India player and Bengal captain Laxmi Ratan Shukla announced his retirement from cricket. Shukla, who failed to make it to the Bengal Ranji squad for most of the current season after making a comeback from injury, was included in the team that played its last league match against Assam earlier this month. But the player choose to call it quits as he was not getting enough “motivation” to continue.

ii. The feisty all-rounder played 137 First Class matches and accumulated 6217 runs and 144 wickets.