WBCS Current Affairs 22/06/2014 to 28/06/2014

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1.Pyu Ancient Cities of Myanmar has become the first site from the country to get entry onto the World Heritage List. It was decided by the World Heritage Committee during its meeting in Doha (Qatar) under the Chair of Sheikha Al Mayassa Bint Hamad Bin Khalifa Al Thani. The panel also inscribed Iran’s ‘Burnt City” on the List.
Pyu Ancient Cities (Myanmar)
The site includes the remains of three brick, walled and moated cities of Halin, Beikthano and Sri Ksetra located in huge irrigated landscapes in the dry zone of the Irrawaddy River basin. These are the evidence of the Pyu Kingdoms that bloomed for over 1,000 years between 200 B.C and 900 A.D.

2.Rani-ki-Vav, an 11th century stepwell in the Patan area of Gujarat, has been approved for placement on the World Heritage list by UNESCO.
As per the UNESCO’s statement, “the Queen’s Stepwell” was designed as an inverted temple highlighting the sanctity of water.
About Rani-ki-Vav
Location: On the banks of Saraswati, Patan, Gujarat.
Built by: Queen Udayamati as a memorial to King Bhimdev I of the Solanki dynasty.
The 11th century stepwell and is one of the finest examples of stepwells in Gujarat.
The well is subterranean structure with a series of steps, board landings, pavilions and sculpted walls which provides access to water in deep water. It is of seven storeys with five exist and there are more than 800 elaborate sculptures which are survived. This is a protected monument under the Archeological Survey of India.

3.Indian government is keeping a close watch on the ongoing crisis in Iraq where terrorist groups led by ISIS (Islamic State in Iraq and Syria) are attacking and capturing regions in the country. Though the crisis hasn’t yet caused any disruption in the country’s crude oil supplies to India, it has the potential to push up global crude prices. In FY14, India imported around 13% of its crude oil from Iraq, the most after Saudi Arabia, which provided for about 20% of the country’s oil imports of 190 million tonnes in the year. India’s dependence on Iraq crude oil surged since FY12 after US sanctions on Iran.
The average price of Indian crude oil basket that was at $106.94/ barrel during April-May has now increased to $110.31/barrel. The surge in the price has been witnessed since the intensification of fighting between militants belonging to the Sunni minority and Iraq security forces.
As per experts, the oil prices may soar if militants — now fighting Iraq’s security forces mostly in northern regions — advance into southern Iraq, which accounts for around three-quarters of the country’s crude production.
Normally, Indian refiners have stock of crude oil ranging from 15 days to nearly a month. Any deficiency in supplies from Iraq could be replenished from other suppliers such as Saudi Arabia and Kuwait, but if disturbances prolong, it could impact Indian refiners.
Escalation of the price of crude oil directly impacts India’s fuel subsidy and could hurt government finances. Due to gradual price increase by the government the losses on diesel have now reduced to Rs 1.62 per litre and the government aims to make the fuel’s price fully market-determined. For instance, if there is an increase in international crude oil price by a dollar, price of diesel in India could rise by roughly 40 paise/ litre.

4.Eminent novelist Salman Rushdie (67), author of Midnight’s Children and The Satanic Verses, has been named the winner of Pen Pinter prize for 2014. The award was instituted in 2009 by writers’ charity English Pen in memory of British writer Harold Pinter.The prize will be presented on October 9, 2014 at an event at the British Library in London.

5.World Champion Magnus Carlsen has become the first man in the history of Chess to hold the Chess Triple Crown by holding the World Blitz, Rapid, and Classic titles consecutively.

6.A new district is being carved out by bifurcating Jalpaiguri district of West Bengal with a view to expedite government services. The new district will be Alipurduar. This will be state’s 20th district and will get status of district on June 25, 2014.
People were facing delays in delivery of government services for being far from the district headquarters. It took a lot of time to reach district headquarters. The creation of new district through bifurcation will help the people in availing government services.

7.Renowned Hindi poet Kedarnath Singh (80) has been named the recipient of the prestigious Jnanpith Award for 2013. The award includes Rs 11 lakh and a citation.
Born in Balia, UP, Singh has also penned essays and stories and Abhi bilkul abhi and Yahan se dekho are among his high-flying works. Singh is the 10th Hindi writer to get the award and joins the class of Sumitra Nandan Pant, Ramdhari Singh Dinkar among others.

8.Immunologists Dr James Allison of the US and Dr Tasuku Honjo of Japan were named joint recipients of the inaugural Tang Prize in Biopharmaceutical Science for their discoveries that have helped advance immunotherapy and has brought new ray of hope that many types of cancers can be cured.

9.The Railway Ministry has effected a sharp hike of 14.2% in train passenger fares in all classes and a 6.5% surge in freight rates to earn Rs 8000 crore a year for the cash-deficient Indian railways.

10.Senior IAS officer Rajeev Topno has been appointed Private Secretary to Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Topno, a 1996 batch IAS officer of Gujarat cadre, was already working as Director in the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO).

11.Sanjaya Rajaram, an India-born plant scientist, has been chosen for the World Food Prize 2014 for scientific research that led to a stupendous increase in world wheat production.Sanjaya Rajaram, a citizen of Mexico, took over Nobel Laureate Norman Borlaug as head of the wheat breeding program at the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT) in Mexico, where he worked for 33 years. The World Food Prize acknowledges his contribution to the breeding technologies which have made significant impact in providing more nutritious food around the world and assuaging world hunger.

12.The Tax Administration Reform Commission (TARC) headed by Parthasarathy Shome has accepted the suggestions of the Bangalore Chamber of Industry and Commerce (BCIC) pertaining to realignment of the administration of CBDT and CBEC which will help move towards a more “unified management structure”. The Committee suggested abolition of the post of Revenue Secretary, merger of Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) and Central Board of Excise and Customs (CBEC) and broaden the use of Permanent Account Number (PAN).

13.An independent High Level Committee under the chairmanship of Shri K.K. Mehrotra, former CMD, MECON has been constituted by the Government to inquire about the cause of gas leakage from blast furnace-GCP in Bhilai Steel Plant on June12, 2014. The panel will hand in the final report to the Secretary, Ministry of Steel by July 17, 2014.