WBCS Current Affairs 29/11/2014 to 05/12/2014

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1.Veteran Bollywood actor, comedian and filmmaker Deven Verma, passed away in Pune, Maharashtra. He was 77.

2.The traditional brass and copper craft of utensil making among the Thatheras of Jandiala Guru, Punjab is being inscribed on the UNESCO Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity, 2014.
It was announced at UNESCO’s 9th Session of the Intergovernmental Committee (IGC) for the Safeguarding of Intangible Heritage in Paris, France.

3.Punjab government has banned the sale of flavoured tobacco and e-cigarettes with immediate effect throughout the state. This decision was taken in at a state-level coordination committee held in Chandigarh as various firms were bypassing Cigarettes and Other Tobacco Products Act (COTPA), 2003 by selling flavoured, scented tobacco and e-cigarettes in the state.

4.Government has added 18 more new coal blocks exclusively for the power sector in order to revive the this sector which was facing hurdles due to poor supply of coal to thermal plants. These 18 coal blocks are added to the existing 74 reserves, which have been earmarked for e-auction as well as for allotment by March 16, 2015.
With the inclusion, the total strength of blocks which would be offered by the Centre through auction as well as direct allotment route is 92.
Top priority to the power sector: Government has given top priority to the power sector, as 59 out of these 92 blocks will be given out for it. Of these 59 blocks, 25 will be put up for e-auction while the remaining 34 will be allotted directly to Centrally-owned as well as State public sector undertakings.

5.The Punjab Government has agreed to the Ghana Government’s proposal offering land to Punjab farmers. As per the proposal, the government of Ghana would provide fertile farmland on a long-term lease to Punjab farmers for farm activities. Ghana has made this proposal to promote agriculture as a tool of progress in Ghana and if possible then by Punjab’s expertise in farming.
Punjab Government has assured Ghana that a high-level delegation of officers as well as an expert from Punjab Agricultural University (PAU), Ludhiana, would be sent to Ghana to study the suitability of the entire project.
Ghana also offered Punjab to export finished goods to Ghana. It has invited Punjabi entrepreneurs to visit Ghana to start manufacturing facilities in the country and take advantage of Ghana’s natural resources like various minerals, timber, oil, cocoa, palm oil fish and cotton.

6.Dubai is planning to build world’s largest airport in order secure its position as the world’s aviation hub. It will be located at Dubai World Central at Al Maktoum, 30 km off the present Al Maktoum International airport which already is the second busiest in the world after London’s Heathrow airport.
This project is expected to complete in 2020.
Key facts
The cost of this airport will be USD 32-billion.
The proposed new airport will become the world’s largest aviation facility on completion.
It will have five runways which all will be simultaneously operational, all A380-compatible with a length of 4.5 km each.
In the first phase, it will be able to handle 120 million passengers, which will go up to 200 million when the project is completed.
Dubai is becoming global aviation hub due to its geographical location and the availability of cheap fuel.
This new airport will help to boost aviation industry of Dubai and will contribute USD 53.1 billion to its economy, which is 37.5 per cent to its GDP and will support over 750,000 jobs by the turn of 2020.
In 2013, aviation sector as a whole contributed USD 26.7 billion to the Dubai’s economy, which was almost 27 per cent of the national GDP and supported 416,500 jobs accounting for 21 per cent of Dubai’s total employment.

7.India’s first annual hemp conference was held in New Delhi at Indian Habitat Centre (IHC). The aim of the conference was to provide an opportunity to international agencies get idea of India’s hemp agencies.
This conference was organised by Indian Industrial Hemp Association (IIHA) in association with World Association for Small and Medium Enterprises (WASME), European Industrial Hemp Association (EIHA), Hemp Foods (Australia) and Hemp Age.
Hemp: It is the common name for plants of the entire cannabis. This term is often used to refer only to cannabis strains cultivated for industrial (non-drug) use.
Industrial hemp: It has many uses, including paper, textiles, biodegradable plastics, construction, health food, fuel and hemp oil, wax, resin, rope and pulp.
Implications of hemp industry: Industrial hemp can bring a revolution in the industry as hemp fibre is the strongest one in the world. It has the potential to cure cancer and a next generation crop to bring revolution to our Indian economy.

8.Punjab government gave in-principle approval for establishing a Rs. 150-crore mega food park at Ladowal in Ludhiana to promote food processing industry in the state.
The Central Government’s scheme of Mega Food Park, which aims at providing a mechanism to link agricultural production to the market, provides for a one-time capital grant of 50% of the project cost, subject to a limit of Rs. 50 crore in general areas and 75% of the project cost, subject to a limit of Rs. 50 crore in difficult and hilly areas.
Mega Food Parks Scheme
This scheme was launched in the 10th Plan as Scheme of Food Parks and was revised during the 11th Plan period and was rechristened as Mega Food Parks Scheme (MFPS). The scheme was approved by the Union Government in September 2008.

9.The Punjab Cabinet approved the Backward Class (BC) status for the Jat and Jat Sikhs of the State. Now, Jats and Jat Sikhs are the 69th and 70th community to be included in the category.
As per the Punjab Cabinet decision
Quota benefit will also be extended to economically weaker persons from the general category.
These reservations would be in addition to the quota already in place and would not affect the existing quota sections.
A commission will be set up to work out modalities for the implementation of the Cabinet decision.
The grant of BC status to the Jats and Jat Sikhs will enable them to get reservation in government jobs.

10.Government will observe national ‘Good Governance Day’ on the birthday of former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee i.e. 25th December each year. It was announced by Prime Minister Narendra Modi at the BJP Parliamentary Board meeting held New Delhi. On this day all BJP MPs and government officials will make the day symbolic of good governance.

11.India successfully test-fired its nuclear-capable strategic ballistic missile Agni-IV, from a test range located at Wheeler Island, off the Odisha coast.
Test: The missile was supported by a mobile launcher. It was flight tested from the launch complex-4 of Integrated Test Range (ITR). The test was conducted by the specially formed Strategic Force Command (SFC) and Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO).
This test was the fourth trial of Agni-IV missile. The last trial was carried out successfully on 20th January 2014 from the same test range.
Key facts
Agni-IV is sophisticated surface-to-surface missile is equipped with modern and compact avionics to provide high level of reliability.
It has a strike range of about 4000 km.
It is equipped with state of the art Avionics, 5th generation On Board Computer and distributed architecture. It has the latest features to correct and guide itself for in-flight disturbances.
It is integrated with Ring Laser Gyro based Inertial Navigation System (RINS) and supported by highly reliable redundant Micro Navigation System (MINGS), which ensures that missile hits the target within two digit accuracy.
At present India has arsenal of Agni-I, II and III and Prithvi missiles with strike reach of over 3000 km, giving an effective deterrence capability.

12.Former Chief Minister of Maharashtra and a veteran Congressman, Abdul Rahman Antulay, passed away after a prolonged illness. He was 85.
About AR Antulay
Abdul Rahman Antulay, widely known as AR Antulay.
He was 8th and first and only Muslim Chief Minister of Maharashtra from 1980 to 1982.
He had resigned from his CM post following allegations of corruption scandal which was named as the “Cement scandal”. He was convicted in an extortion case by the Bombay High Court.
As a veteran Congressman and lawyer remained loyal to Indira Gandhi during the Emergency and its aftermath when the Congress party split in 1978. The new outfit of Congress under leadership Indira Gandhi was born at his residence.
He also served as the Union Minister of Minority Affairs in the UPA-I government lead by Dr. Manmohan Singh.
He was elected as Congress party MLA and MP, from Raigad district of Maharashtra.
He had fought his last election in 2009, which he lost to the Shiv Sena, after which he remained out of the active politics.

13.The Centre has appointed senior IPS officer Anil Kumar Sinha as the new Director of the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI). He will take over from Ranjit Sinha who will retire 3rd December 2014.
His name was cleared by the Appointments Committee of Cabinet headed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Appointments Committee had shortlisted Anil Sinha’s name from names of about 40 officers shortlisted by the Department of Personnel and Training (DoPT).
Earlier Prime Minister Narendra had consulted Selection committee headed by him to clear Sinha’s name. Selection committee’s collegium comprised of the Prime Minister, Chief Justice of India HL Dattu and the leader of the largest Opposition party (Congress) – Mallikarjun Kharge.
The term of Anil Sinha will be for two years from the date he takes charge.

14.The Union cabinet meeting chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi has given nod to for introduction of the comprehensive Anti-Hijacking Bill, 2014 in the Parliament. The Cabinet has also given its approval to ratify Beijing Protocol, 2010 of the UN body International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) to which India is a signatory.
Anti-Hijacking Bill, 2014 proposes
Death punishment for the offence of the hijacking, where such offence results in the death of a hostage or of a security personal.
Imprisonment for life and the confiscation of moveable and immoveable property d of persons involved in hijacking.
The current law, the Anti-Hijacking Act, 1982, which was last amended in 1994, will be repealed after passage of this new Bill.
Background
It was felt necessary for providing death penalty award to perpetrators of the act of hijacking in the wake of the hijacking of Indian Airlines Flight IC-814 in December 1999.
It was also necessary to amend current Indian hijacking act after the incident of 9/11, in the US where aircraft were used as weapons.
The Anti-Hijacking (Amendment) Bill, 2010 was introduced in the Rajya Sabha in August 2010. It was introduced during the process of amendment of a global diplomatic conference on anti-hijacking which was held at Beijing in August-September, 2010.
Beijing Protocol: This Protocol has brought out new principal offences in hijacking. This protocol is combined with ancillary offences, enlarged the scope of ‘hijacking’, expanded jurisdiction and strengthened extradition and mutual assistance regimes in case hijacking.

15.Defence PSU, Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) and Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) will tie up to work on the integrated cryogenic engine manufacturing (ICEM) facility. This facility will be joint venture of both PSU’s.
ICEM facility will have a built-up area of 5,560 sqm on the land belonging HAL’s and will be opposite to current HAL’s Aerospace Division. ISRO will fund Rs 139 crore for the facility.
This facility will be established in next two years and help to come out with a strategy on indigenous engines for India’s future space missions.
The proposed ICEM unit will include rotary vacuum brazing facility, machineries for sheet metal forming, et al. The new facility is expected to have a turnover nearly Rs 9 crore per annum.
Earlier, HAL had partnered with ISRO throughout its journey by providing hardware for satellites, SLV, ASLV, PSLV, GSLVMKII and GSLV MKIII (LVM3).

16.Gujarat has become first state in to surpass the 1 billion mark in e-Transactions and to achieve landmark of 100 crore e-Transactions. It was revealed by e-Transaction Aggregation and Analysis – ‘eTaal’, a National e-services Dashboard portal created by the Government of India.
As per e-taal data, e-transactions in the last two years from January 1, 2013 to November 26, 2014 of top 4 states are
Gujarat has topped with 100.21 crore e-transactions.
Madhya Pradesh with 62.21 crore e-transactions.
Maharashtra with 53.62 crore e-transactions
Andhra Pradesh with 31.95 crore e-transactions.

17.A Parliamentary Standing Committee on External Affairs has asked the government to present Constitution (119th Amendment) Bill, 2013 without any delay to give effect to the India-Bangladesh Land Boundary Agreement (LBA).
This Standing Committee was headed by Congress MP Shashi Tharoor.
The committee in its report has mentioned
Passage of this Bill is a national interest and will pave way for broader ties with the neighbouring country.
Coming into force of the pact may result in a “modest” demographic change in bordering areas and help to resolve the difficulties being faced by the people living in the “enclaves” of both the countries once the pact comes into force.
Security dimension due to influx of population should be considered seriously by the government.
After the enclaves are handed over to India by Bangladesh, government must keep ready a blueprint for development so that development work can be started immediately after the pact is ratified.
Background
The Constitution (119th Amendment) Bill, 2013 aims to ratify the LBA between India and Bangladesh under the Indira-Mujib pact of 1974 to exchange areas and people on either side of the border.
As per the provision of pact, India will exchange 111 enclaves measuring 17,160 acres with Bangladesh and receive 51 enclaves covering 7,110 acres. Almost 51,000 people reside in these enclaves. The territories involved in the exchange are in Assam, West Bengal, Meghalaya and Tripura.
On 16th May 1974, soon after the independence of Bangladesh the LBA was signed between India and Bangladesh in order to find a solution to the complex nature of border demarcation. This pact was ratified by Bangladesh government in 1974.
In 1974, in India Cabinet had granted approval to this pact but was not ratified as it involved cession of territory.

18.Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated the Hornbill festival of Nagaland. PM Modi by wearing a traditional Naga headgear and by beating the traditional Naga gong three times declared the festival open at the picturesque heritage village of Kisama, Kohima.
About Hornbill festival of Nagaland
Hornbill (name of a bird) Festival is celebrated in Nagaland every year in the first week of December. This festival is 10-day tourism promotional extravaganza which showcases rich culture of Naga tribes which includes shows of music and dance.
It was established on 1st December 1963 and was inaugurated by the then President Dr. S Radhakrishnan. The festival is organized by the State Tourism and Art & Culture Departments, at Naga Heritage Village, Kisama which is about 12 km from Kohima the state capital. Notably, it is also supported by the Centre as one of the biggest indigenous festivals of the country.
The Hornbill Festival provides a colourful mixture of dances, performances, crafts, parades, games, sports, food fairs and religious ceremonies. The festival both exposes the culture and tradition of tribal peoples, and reinforces Nagaland’s identity as a unique state in India’s federal union.

19.Russian film ‘Leviathan’ has bagged the Golden Peacock at the closing ceremony of the 45th International Film Festival of India (IFFI).
Key Highlights of 45th IFFI
Marathi movie ‘Ek Haazarachi Note’ has bagged the centenary trophy for best film i.e. Silver Peacock.
The Lifetime Achievement award was presented to Hong-Kong filmmaker Wong Kar-wai, known for his films like ‘In the Mood for Love’, ‘Ashes of Time’ and ‘Chungking Express’.
The best actor award was shared by Russian actor Alexel Serebriakov and Indian actor Dulal Sarkar.
The best actress award was shared by two international stars they are Cuban actress Arina Rodriguez and Israeli actress Sarit Larry.
The festival also paid tribute to departed legends of cinema including Robin Williams, Richard Attenborough, Zohra Sehgal, Suchitra Sen and Farooq Shaikh by screening some of their works.

20.Indian badminton star P V Sindhu has won Macau Open Grand Prix Gold Badminton Title held in Macau. She defeated Kim Hyo Min of Korea in the women’s singles finals by score of 21-12, 21-17.
She has defended 120000 US dollar Macau Grand Prix Gold title which she had won earlier in 2013.
About P V Sindhu
P V Sindhu is two-time World Championship bronze medalist. Currently she is ranked World No. 11.
She had created history by becoming the first Indian to win two back-to-back medals in the World Badminton Championships.
She was first Indian woman to win a medal in singles at the World Championships (India’s first singles medal since Prakash Padukone won bronze in 1983).

21.Yan Bingtao, the 14-year-old prodigy from China, has created history by becoming the youngest player to win the men’s title in the IBSF World Snooker Championship. He defeated Pakistan’s Muhammad Sajjad 8-7 in the final match held in Bengaluru, Karnataka.
Earlier, Yan had defeated 12 time World titles holder Pankaj Advani by 6-4 to storm into the men’s semi-finals.

22.Prime Minister Narendra Modi flagged-off the first train from Mendipathar, Meghalaya, to Guwahati. This was an important occasion in the history of Indian Railways, as Meghalaya was being added to the rail network of India for first time. He also unveiled the plaque for a new rail line from Bhairabi to Sairang.

23.For the first time, Wildlife Crime Control Bureau (WCCB) under Environment Ministry in coordination with the Wildlife Trust of India (WTI) have developed Android based smartphone application that will enable users to report wildlife crimes, from any part of the country using their mobile phones
Features of applications
This application provides a secure platform for real time exchange of wildlife crime related information between WCCB and relevant stakeholders
The app allows an individual to report a wildlife crime quickly and efficiently as the lead will be automatically delivered to a designated email id of WCCB.
The user who reports crime can also remain anonymous and WCCB will be the sole custodian of the collected information.
Further, no details of the person reporting the crime will be shared without the prior consent of the individual.
This interactive app has a simple user interface replacing the written reporting and records.
It is also integrated with digital version of the Wild Life (Protection) Act, 1972. The updated version will provide regular wildlife crime news alerts and updates on any amendments/notifications related to the Act.

24.Reserve Bank of India issued the final guidelines for the Bharat Bill Payment System (BBPS). It is an integrated bill payment system offering inter-operable and accessible bill payment service to customers through a network of agents, enabling multiple payment modes, and providing instant confirmation of payment.
Key Facts
It will help consumers pay multiple bills like electricity, telephone and school fees at a single point of transaction.
The National Payment Corporation of India (NPCI) has been appointed as the nodal body which will set the standards, and also take care of clearing and settlement as the Bharat Bill Payment Central Unit (BBPCU).
In the two tiered BBPS set-up, there will be authorised operational units called Bharat Bill Payment Operating Units (BBPOUs) with an agent network under the BBPCU.
RBI has set a Rs 100-crore networth and domestic registration as qualifying conditions for those seeking to be authorised collection agents.
Participants in the BBPS will include authorised entities such as BPCU, BBPOUs as well as their authorised agents, payment gateways, banks, billers and service providers, and other entities, including authorised prepaid payment instrument issuers.
Thus, BBPS will help track all the payments being made in economy, including cash payments to utilities, schools, and telcos among others.

25.Mount Aso, a volcano in southern Japan has erupted. It is the first such eruption in 22 years, causing flight cancellations and prompting warnings to stay away from its crater. This eruption has spewed out lava debris and smoke, shooting plumes of ash a kilometre into the sky.
Earlier, Japan Meteorological Agency (JMA) had reported earthquakes and other seismic activity in late August on Mount Aso.
About Mount Aso
Mount Aso is the largest active volcano in Japan, and is among the largest in the world. It is located in Aso Kuju National Park in Kumamoto Prefecture, on Kyushu Island. Its peak is 1592 m above sea level. Mount Aso has one of the largest calderas in the world (25 km north-south and 18 km east-west). The caldera has a circumference of around 120 km.

26.he Union Government has granted Rs. 444 crore for the Phase-2 work of the Sabarmati River Conservation Project. This fund will help to beautify Sabarmati Riverfront Project.
The National River Conservation Director (NRCD) has also given nod for the purification of the Sabarmati River.
As per the approval
70 per cent of the cost i.e. Rs. 311.72-crore would be borne by the Centre.
Remaining 30 per cent i.e. Rs. 132.72-crore will be jointly borne by Government of Gujarat (GOG) and Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation (AMC).

27.The Lok Sabha has passed the Constitution (Scheduled Castes) Orders (Amendment) Bill, 2014. It was passed by a voice vote. The Bill seeks to amend the Constitution (Scheduled Castes) Order, 1950 and the Constitution (Sikkim) Scheduled Castes Order, 1978.
Amendments
The bill includes certain communities in the list of Scheduled Castes from Kerala, Madhya Pradesh, Odisha, and Tripura. They are
Kerala: Pulluvan, Thachar (other than ‘Carpenter’).
Madhya Pradesh:
Odisha: Amata, Amath, Bajia, Jaggili, Jagli, Buna Pano.
Tripura: Chamar-Rohidas, Chamar-Ravidas, Dhobi, Jhalo-Malo.
This amendment Bill removes a Majhi (Nepali) community from the list of Scheduled Castes in Sikkim.
The bill was first tabled in 2012 but lapsed after the previous Lok Sabha was dissolved and the NDA government again had introduced it August, 2014 in Lok Sabha.

28.Uttar Pradesh has become the first State in the country to take the route of e-governance to provide pension and scholarships to 15 million beneficiaries. Besides, UP has also made commercial taxes department consumer friendly by making almost all payments and registration online.
UP is the first state to integrate the state treasury with the Centre’s Public Financial Management System (PFMS) through. In PFMS the entire pension and scholarship amount are being directly sent to the bank account of the beneficiaries. In PFMS system, the beneficiaries are also alerted about the payment through SMS.

29.Namibia has become first country in Africa to use electronic voting in their presidential election. For the first time 1.2 million Namibian’s are expected to cast their votes electronically in the country’s 5th election since independence.
Around 3400 India-made Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs) will be used for this elections.
In April 2014, Namibian government had purchased these EVM form India’s public sector unit, Bharat Electronic Limited (BEL), Bangaluru.
This purchase was done after, the seven-member delegation from the Electoral Commission of Namibia (ECN) were impressed by the EVM system after they had visited polling stations in Karnataka including Bengaluru, during Lok Sabha polls in April, 2014 17.
Other countries using Indian made EVM’s: Asian countries Nepal, Bhutan have purchased India-manufactured EVMs and using it. Fiji is expected to use Indian EVMs.

30.India and Mozambique have signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) for cooperation in the oil and gas sector for a period of five years.
This MoU seeks cooperation in oil and gas in both upstream and downstream sectors in the areas of enhancing capacity-building, forging closer cooperation between research and training centres and intensifying technology transfer, among others.
The MoU was signed at a meeting held at New Delhi between Petroleum Minister Dharmendra Pradhan and Mozambique’s Minister of Foreign Affairs Oldemiro Julio Marques Baloi.

31.Government has announced that as many as 70.43 crore Aadhaar numbers have been generated by the Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) as on November 15, 2014.
It was notified by Planning Minister Rao Inderjit Singh in a written reply to Rajya Sabha.
As per Government
The Aadhaar saturation level is more than 90 per cent in 9 states and union territories (UTs).
Between 75 per cent and 90 per cent in another 8 states/UTs.
In the remaining 12 states/UTs, the Aadhaar saturation level is under 50 per cent.
Government has allocated 24 states/UTs to UIDAI for Aadhaar enrolment and the remaining 12 states/UTs to Registrar General of India (RGI) for enrolment under National Population Register (NPR) process.
At present, Aadhaar enrolments in the state/UTs not allocated to UIDAI are being undertaken by Registrar General of India under NPR process.

32.Thailand’s parliament has voted to ban commercial surrogacy. This decision was taken by Thailand’s military Junta which came to power in May, 2014.
A voted draft bill has provision which mentions that anyone profiting off surrogacy will be given a maximum ten year prison sentence. The bill also forbids any middlemen or agencies, receiving any assets or benefits through the surrogacy process
This decision was outcome of outrage that had erupted over the largely unregulated commercial surrogacy industry following allegations that an Australian couple abandoned a baby with Down’s syndrome.
In 1997, commercial surrogacy was supposedly banned by Thailand’s Medical Council. But, the booming surrogacy industry had sprung up in Thailand which had attracted many foreigners.
This industry came under intense scrutiny after a series of surrogacy scandals broke involving foreigners.

33.The World Trade Organization (WTO) approved the first world-wide trade deal- Trade Facilitation agreement (TFA). It was approved by WTO’s 160 member nations in Geneva after months of deadlock.
This announcement comes after India and the US earlier had resolved their differences over public stockholding of food in November 2014.
The approval of TFA deal will possibly help to meet a permanent solution for the public stockholding of food in the WTO’s Ministerial Conference 2015 as 160 members agreed to make all efforts to find a permanent solution to the issue.
Summary
The Trade Facilitation Agreement (TFA) is the WTO’s first-ever multilateral accord. It was outcome of 9th Ministerial Conference of WTO for broader reform to boost global trade held in Bali, Indonesia in December, 2013.
The agreement includes provisions for
Lowering import tariffs and agricultural subsidies: It will make it easier for developing countries to trade with the developed world in global markets.
Abolish hard import quotas: Developed countries would abolish hard import quotas on agricultural products from the developing world and instead would only be allowed to charge tariffs on amount of agricultural imports exceeding specific limits.
Reduction in red tape at international borders: It aims to reduce red-tapism to facilitate trade by reforming customs bureaucracies and formalities.
Implications
If this agreement is properly implemented, it may create US$1 trillion worth of global economic activity which may add 21 million new jobs and lower the cost of doing international trade by 10–15 percent.

34.Government has revised the target for opening of accounts under Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana (PMJDY) from 7.5 crore to10 crore by 26th January, 2015.
It was announced by Finance Ministry in order to open one account bank account for each household in the country.
According to Finance Ministry
Till 18th November 2014, 7.64 crore bank accounts have been opened under PMJDY.
Out of 7.64 crore bank accounts, Public Sector Banks (PSBs) have opened 6.15 crore accounts, Regional Rural Banks (RRBs) have opened 1.28 crore accounts and private sector banks have opened 0.20 crore accounts.
In terms of deposits, Rs. 6015 crore has been collected up to 18th November, 2014 under PMJDY. Out of 7.64 core accounts opened, 5.74 crore accounts opened are zero balance accounts.
Under PMJDY scheme, Madhya Pradesh has achieved more than 90% of the target of opening of accounts and is likely to achieve the target of 100% soon.
Finance Ministry, is also seeking to connect Aadhar card numbers with bank accounts which will help in directly transferring the subsidies to the bank accounts of the desired sections of the society under Direct Benefit Transfer (DBT) scheme.
Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana(PMJDY)
PM of India, Narendra Modi had launched the ambitious PMJDY which aims to achieve comprehensive financial inclusion. It provides ‘universal access to banking facilities’ starting with Basic Banking Accounts and RuPay Debit card with inbuilt accident insurance cover of Rs. 1 lakh and RuPay Kisan Card.
The slogan for the Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan mission is “Mera Khata – Bhagya Vidhaata”.

35.Prime Minister of Sweden Stefan Loefven of Social Democrat party on 3 December 2014 called for snap elections after losing budget vote in the Riksdag, the Parliament of Sweden. The elections will be held on 22 March 2015.

36.The median time it takes to cause maximum warming following a Carbon Dioxide (CO2) emission is 10.1 years. This was revealed by study titled Maximum warming occurs about one decade after a carbon dioxide emission published in journal Environmental Research Letters on 2 December 2014.

The study was conducted by Katharine L Ricke and Ken Caldeira of Carnegie Institution for Science.
Apparatus of the study
• For the study, the researchers combined the results from two large modelling studies - carbon-cycle and physical-climate model inter-comparison projects.
• One is about the way carbon emissions interact with the global carbon cycle and other is about the effect of carbon on the Earth's climate used by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change.
• Further, they evaluated the uncertainties in timing and amount of warming and divided them into three contributing factors: carbon cycle, climate sensitivity and ocean thermal inertia. If uncertainty in any one factor is reduced to zero without reducing uncertainty in the other factors, the majority of overall uncertainty remains there.

Findings of the Study
• After carrying out the conjoined study, researchers found that the median time between an emission and the maximum warming is 10.1 years, with a 90 percent probability range of 6.6–30.7 years.
• The study further found that the Carbon Dioxide (CO2) emissions can cause long-term environmental damage. The findings of the study were published in the.
• The warming caused by a single emission reaches the maximum number of people quickly, but the damage caused by this warming can play out over longer periods leading to sea level rise and also causing harm to ecosystems.
• The results indicated that benefit from avoided climate damage from avoided CO2 emissions will be manifested within the lifetimes of people who acted to avoid that emission.

37.India and Japan will cooperate in the fields of Cyber security and Green Information and Communication Technology (ICT).

The two countries announced their decision on 4 December 2014 after India-Japan Joint Working Group Meeting on ICT held in New Delhi. Accordingly, the two countries will cooperate in five different projects, namely


• Green ICT - Green Mobile Base Station project
• Cyber Security Cooperation - Japan-India Combat Spam project
• ICT for Disaster Management (ICT4DM) - ICT Use in disaster-affected areas project
• ICT Application for Social and Economic Challenges - National ID Application and Utilization Platform project
• Cooperative project for detecting symptoms and quick response to cyber attacks (PRACTICE)

Union Ministry for Communication and Information Technology (MCIT) and Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communication (MIC) Japan will coordinate the activities for taking these projects forward by involving industrial partners in both the countries.

The two countries have aimed that the joint projects should be implemented by early 2015.
To discuss and further work towards implementation of these projects, the next meeting of the joint working group is to be held in Tokyo in 2015.

38.Air India and National Buildings Construction Corporation Limited (NBCC) on 4 December 2014 signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) for implementation of the monetisation of assets of Air India at various locations on joint venture basis.
The MoU was signed at Rajiv Gandhi Bhawan in New Delhi in the presence of Union Urban Development Minister M Venkaiah Naidu and Civil Aviation Minister Ashok Gajapati Raju.
The MoU will be a non-binding, non-exclusive agreement and each land asset will be individually evaluated for a particular mode of monetization process.
This MoU is intended to blend together NBCC’s huge expertise in successful completion of several prestigious projects and Air India’s vast surplus land assets.

39.The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on 3 December 2014 relaxed the norms for Pre-paid Payment Instruments (PPI) and doubled the limit of PPI from 50000 rupees to one lakh rupees.The move would help in achieving the objective of limiting cash transactions in the system.

40.The Union Ministry of Environment and Forests (MoEF) on 4 December 2014 gave its approval for the construction of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj statue and memorial in the Arabian Sea, off the Mumbai coast.
As the project is environmentally sensitive, it will cost approximately 2000 crore rupees to ensure that it does not cause any environmental damage.
Highlights of the project
• The proposal put forward by the state includes a 190-feet statue that is to be erected on a rocky projection 1.5km from Raj Bhavan. The total area will be 15.96 hectares.Background
In January 2014, the Maharashtra Coastal Zone Management Authority (MCZMA) had recommended to the MoEF to consider a special dispensation under the Coastal Regulation Zone (CRZ) Notification-2011 for the proposal to install Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj's statue and memorial in the Arabian sea as a permissible activity.
It had also asked the ministry to delegate powers to the MCZMA under CRZ Notification 2011 to recommend the project from a CRZ point of view to the planning authority at the state level.

41.The Supreme Court on 3 December 2014 directed the Union to complete prosecution of black money hoarders abroad under the Income Tax Act, 1961 by 31 March 2015.
A SC Bench comprising of Chief Justice of India H L Dattu, Justice Madan B Lokur and Justice A K Sikri directed the Union and Special Investigation Team (SIT) to probe the cases of black money.
The court also said that if for any reasons the probe remains inconclusive then appropriate decision will be taken by Union to extend the deadline of 31 March 2015.
The court also asked SIT head Justice M B Shah to consider the plea of petitioner Ram Jethmalani to provide him the copies of the reports of SITs probes into the black money cases without blackening the content.
Earlier in October 2014, the Centre submitted to the Supreme Court a list of 627 Indians holding black money in accounts abroad in HSBC bank, Geneva.
According to the amendment of Income Tax Act, 1961 recently, the period of limitation for launching prosecution has been extended from six years to 16 years to enable the prosecution of black money hoarders.

42.India on 2 December 2014 joined the Thirty Meter Telescope (TMT) Project as a Full Member. With this, India joined the elite group of countries including USA, China, Japan and Canada to build the largest telescope in the world at Mauna Kea in Hawaii.
India became the full member of the project after K Vijay Raghavan, Secretary, Department of Science and Technology (DST) under the Union Ministry of Science and Technology, signed the documents to change India's formal relationship from Associate to Member of the TMT International Observatory (TIO). DST is the financial authority of India-TMT.
India-TMT will be a joint project of the DST and Department of Atomic Energy (DAE) that will be anchored in the Indian Institute of Astrophysics (IIA) and led by IIA; Aryabhatta Research Institute of Observational Sciences, Nainital; and Inter-University Centre for Astronomy and Astrophysics, Pune.

India’s contribution to the Project

In September 2014, Union cabinet chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi gave its approval for India’s participation in the TMT project at a total cost of 1299.8 crore rupees from 2014 to 2023.
India's contributions to the project will be in the areas of software systems, segment production and the production of the very high precision sensors and actuators that make the primary mirror possible.
India will deliver 100 smaller, hexagonal mirrors out of a total of 492 that is needed to build the 30m diameter primary mirror of the telescope. Japan, China and the US will supply the remainder whereas Canada will construct the dome.
India will also deliver 3444 edge sensors that will guide the actuators in aligning the segments.

About TMT Project

Thirty Metre Telescope (TMT) is being built at the height of 4050 meter on Mauna Kea Mountains in Hawaii. It is expected to be completed by 2020. It will enable astronomers to study objects in our own solar system and stars throughout our Milky Way and its neighboring galaxies, and forming galaxies at the very edge of the observable Universe, near the beginning of time.
The TMT project was born out of the merging of three earlier large-telescope projects:

43.Indian-American scientist Arun Majumdar was on 4 December 2014 appointed as the United States (US) Science Envoy with effect from 1 January 2015.
Arun Majumdar will join the office along with three other US Envoys Peter Hotez, Jane Lubchenco and Geri Richmond. These distinguished scientists will engage internationally at the citizen and government levels.

44.Justice Vaidyanathapura Rama Krishna Iyer died on 4 December 2014 in Kochi at the age of 100. He died due to renal and cardiac failure. He was former Supreme Court Judge, an MLA from Kerala, a philosopher and a renowned social activist.

45.The Manipur Government on 1 December 2014 extended the Disturbed Area status for Manipur to another one year under the Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act (AFSPA) with effect from 1 December 2014.

46.Raninder Singh on 3 December 2014 became the first Indian to get elected as a member of the International Shooting Sport Federation (ISSF)'s Executive Committee. He is the President of National Rifle Association of India (NRAI).

47.Infosys on 4 December 2014 appointed Stanford Professor John W. Etchemendy as an Independent member on its Board of Directors (BoD).

48.State Bank of India (SBI) Cards on 3 December 2014 launched a co-branded credit card named Styleup with Fashion at Big Bazaar (FBB) of Future Group. FBB is the fashion destination of the Future Group.
The card offers a lifetime discount of 10 per cent discount on fashion apparel.
The co-branded Styleup Card will come with 500 rupees joining gift and will offer a lifetime flat 10 per cent discount on fashion apparel, footwear at all FBB and Big Bazaar stores.
Moreover, the customers will also get 10 times rewards on all Big Bazaar purchases. The card will also provide 2.5 percent fuel surcharge waiver. The card can be sourced from all FBB and Big Bazaar stores.
SBI Cards is the only free-standing credit card company in the country which has witnessed a robust year-on-year growth. The tie-up with the Future Group will allow SBI Cards to enter into the high growth retail sector that is expected to increase to more than 800 billion US dollars by 2015.

49.High Level Committee on Review of Environmental Laws headed by former Cabinet Secretary TSR Subramanian submitted its report to Union Ministry for Environment, Forests and Climate Change on 18 November 2014.
The committee recommended formulating a new umbrella law to streamline the process of environment clearances for development projects in the country.
Main recommendations of the Committee
• It proposed new Environment Loss Management Act (ELMA).
• It recommended full-time expert bodies, National Environment Management Authority (NEMA) and State Environment Management Authority (SEMA), to be constituted at the Central and state levels respectively.
• The NEMA and SEMA recommended to evaluate project clearance (using technology and expertise), in a time bound manner, providing for single window clearance.
• A fast track procedure for linear projects (roads, railways and transmission lines), power and mining projects and for the projects of national importance has been prescribed in the new mechanism.
• The committee has suggested amendments to almost all green laws, including those relating to environment, forest, wildlife and coastal zone clearances.

• It also recommended that an environmental reconstruction cost should be assessed for each project on the basis of the damage caused by it to the environment and should be dovetailed with the cost of the project.
• An Environment Reconstruction Fund is proposed to be established for accumulation of this cost and other penalties recovered from projects.
• The report also proposes a National Environment Research institute on the lines of the Indian Council of Forestry Research and Education to bring in the application of high-end technology in environment governance.
• The committee has not suggested any major changes in the forest laws but has recommended revision of the compensatory afforestation policy.
• It has suggested that the area for compensatory afforestation in the revenue land should be doubled from the current one hectare for each hectare of forestland diverted to non-forest use for development projects.
• The committee also recommends identification of no go forest areas – primarily with over 70 per cent canopy cover and protected areas— which shall not be disturbed except in exceptional circumstances and that too only with the prior approval of the Union Cabinet.
• The committee also recommended increasing the net present value (NPV) of the forest paid by the project proponents for diversion of forests to five times of what it is today.
• The committee has also recommended reducing power of National Green Tribunal (NGT). It suggests district-level courts to decide on infringement of environmental laws.
About the Subramanian committee
The Committee was constituted by the Union Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change on 29 August 2014 to review the processes, laws and Acts of the Ministry.
The committee was constituted to review the key environment laws—
• Environment Protection Act (EPA) of 1986
• Forest Conservation Act (FCA) of 1980
• Wildlife Protection Act (WPA) of 1972
• The Water (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Act of 1974
• The Air (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Act of 1981
• Later, the Indian Forest Act (IFA) of 1927, the colonial law which governs the forest administration in the country, was also added to the list of laws for the committee to review.

50.Indian Oil won the 119th Beighton Cup Hockey tournament on 4 December 2014. In the final match played at the SAI Eastern Centre in Kolkata the Indian Oil defeated the Punjab National Bank in tie-breaker by 5-4 goals.
The match ended in a draw at 2-2 goals at the schedule time of the game.
The awards of the tournament were presented by the West Bengal Governor Keshari Nath Tripathy.

51.Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) along with Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Ltd on 3 December 2014 launched its second-generation asteroid explorer Hayabusa 2 from Tanegashima Space Center in Japan's southwestern Kagoshima prefecture.

52.Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion (DIPP) on 3 December 2014 issued Press Note 10 of 2014 series to relax the Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) norms for the construction development sector. DIPP is under the Union Ministry of Commerce and Industry.

53.Largest health insurance provider New India Assurance (NIA) on 1 December 2014 launched the cheapest top-up health insurance plan in the country.
It will be sold as an individual policy and also as a family floater plan where the sum insured is shared among all members of a family.

54.The 20th edition of the Corruption Perceptions Index 2014 was released on 3 December 2014. The Index measures the perceived levels of public sector corruption in 175 countries and territories.
The 2014 Corruption Perceptions Index shows that economic growth is undermined and efforts to stop corruption fade when leaders and high level officials abuse power to appropriate public funds for personal gain.
It also highlighted that corporate secrecy and global money laundering is makes it harder for emerging economies to fight corruption.
India with a score of 38 was ranked 85th among 175 nations on the index, thus improving its position slightly compared to 96th position and a score of 36 in 2013. Its ranking though an improvement from 2013 is still lower than sub-Saharan countries such as Benin and Burkina Faso.

55.East Zone won the 2014-15 Deodhar Trophy of cricket on 3 December 2014 by defeating West Zone by 24 runs. The final match was played at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai.
This was the first Deodhar Trophy win for East Zone after 11 seasons.
East Zone won the toss and opted to bat first posted 269 for 8 in the stipulated 50 overs. In reply to the target, West Zone bundled out for 245 in 47.2 overs.
• Captain of East Zone: Manoj Tiwary
• Captain of West Zone: Yusuf Pathan
The 2013-14 Deodhar Trophy was won by West Zone. In the finals, it defeated North Zone by 133 runs on 27 March 2014 at Visakhapatnam.
Deodhar Trophy
Deodhar Trophy is a List A cricket competition in Indian domestic cricket. It is named after Prof. DB Deodhar who is known as the Grand Old Man of Indian cricket. It is a 50-over knockout competition played on an annual basis among the 5 zonal teams - North Zone, South Zone, East Zone, West Zone and Central Zone.
The competition was introduced in 1973-74 season with South Zone winning the trophy.

56.Supreme Court on 3 December 2014 set up a Social Justice Bench to exclusively hear cases related to women, children and underprivileged. The apex court set up the special bench in lieu of the specialized approach needed for dealing with such social issues.
The newly constituted two-judge SC bench will be headed by Justice Madan B Lokur and comprises of Justice U U Lalit as member. The bench will assemble every Friday at 2 PM from 12 December 2014 onwards.

57.The Union Finance Ministry on 3 December 2014 constituted a High Level Committee (HLC) to interact with trade and industry on tax-related issues on a regular basis. The high level committee will be headed by former Chief Economic Advisor (CEA) Ashok Lahiri.
Other two members of the committee are Sidhartha Pradhan, retired member of the Settlement Commission (Income Tax and Wealth Tax) and Gautam Ray, retired DG (Audit) of the Customs and Central Excise.

58.The main and oldest litigant in the Ram Janmbhoomi-Babri Masjid dispute, Mohammad Hashim Ansari (94) was in news recently as he decided to withdraw his plea on the case on 3 December 2014. He has been fighting the case since 1959.
His decision came three days before the 6 December, the anniversary of Babri Masjid demolition.

59.Archaeologists from the University of Southampton on 3 December 2014 revealed their discovery of one of the largest medieval royal palace of 12th Century buried under the ground inside a vast prehistoric fortress in Old Sarum. The city Old Sarum was inhabited for over 300 years, but declined in the 13th century with the rise of New Sarum (Salisbury). Old Sarum was originally an Iron Age fort established around 400 BC and occupied by the Romans after the conquest of Britain in AD 43.

60.State Government of Meghalaya on 3 December 2014 constituted a committee to speed up the process of getting the Khasi-language included in the Eighth Schedule of the Constitution of India.

61.The world religious leaders gathered and signed a joint declaration against modern slavery. The declaration was signed during the International Day for the Abolition of Slavery on 2 December 2014 in Vatican City.
Representatives of Anglican, Orthodox, Jewish, Shia and Sunni Muslim, Hindu and Buddhist gathered at the Pontifical Academy of Sciences in Vatican and signed the declaration.