RBI Allowed Banks to Revise Periodicity of Interest Payments

The Reserve Bank of India on 29 October 2013 allowed the commercial banks to revise the periodicity of interest payments thus enabling savings bank account and term deposit holders to earn interest at shorter intervals.
                                                   

   
                                                                           
The Second Quarter Review of Monetary Policy 2013-14 released by the RBI Allowed Banks to Revise Governor Raghuram Rajan revealed that as all commercial banks are now on core banking platforms, it has been decided to give banks the option to pay interest on savings deposits and term deposits at intervals shorter than quarterly intervals. Presently, banks are required to pay interest on savings and term deposits at quarterly or longer intervals.

The savings deposit rate for most banks is 4 per cent per annum, while in some cases, it is as high as 7 percent. The interest rate on savings bank accounts is calculated on a daily basis. Term deposit rates are 8-9 per cent for tenures of one year and above.

The Reserve Bank of India gave freedom to commercial banks to fix savings bank deposit rates in 2011. While giving banks this freedom, the RBI kept one condition that a uniform rate will have to be offered on deposits of up to 1 lakh Rupees, on higher amounts banks are allowed to offer differential rates to depositors.

Rajendra Yadav, The Noted Hindi Writer Passed Away at 84

Rajendra Yadav, the noted Hindi writer passed away on 28 October 2013 at Mayur Vihar, Delhi because of prolonged illness. He was 84 years old.

Life History of Rajendra Yadav                                               
                                               

                       

•  Rajendra Yadav was born on 28 August 1929 in Agra.

•  He was a pioneer of Hindi literary movement known as Nayi Kahani in the 60s. 

•  He re-launched Munshi Premchand's magazine HANS, which he himself had been editing since 1986.

•  Pret Bolte Hain was his first novel and it was published in the year 1951. This was the first Hindi novel to try to shock orthodox Indian cultural traditions.

•  Pret Bolte Hain written by Rajendra Yadav Passed Away at 84 was adapted into the movie of the same title, Sara Akash, by Basu Chatterjee in 1969.

•  His other novels included Ukhre Huey Log and Shaah aur Maat. 

•  He wrote various stories during his career. 

•  He was also nominated as a member of the Board of Prasar Bharati, from 1999 to 2001.

•  Rajendra Yadav’s wife Mannu Bhandari is also a renowned Hindi writer.

•  He authored two other novels entitled Kulta (The Wayward Wife), and Shaah aur Maat (Check and Mate). 

•  Apart from these novels, his other works included Ek Inch Muskaan (A Little Smile), which was co-authored by his wife Mannu Bhandari.

•  It was the love tragedy of schizophrenic individuals.

BCCI Terminated Pune Warriors From The IPL

The BCCI on 26 October 2013 terminated Pune Warriors from the IPL after the Sahara-owned franchise failed to pay its payments and refused to furnish the bank guarantee for the next season. The decision was taken at the Cricket Board's all-powerful working committee meeting.  BCCI wanted the team to furnish a bank guarantee of 170.2 crore rupees to remain a part of the league next year.
                                       
                           

Sahara has been demanding the completion of the arbitration proceedings on the issue of franchise fee, which, it feels, should be lowered since the BCCI Terminated Pune Warriors did not deliver on its promised number of IPL matches for the team.

Pune Warriors were purchased by Sahara for 370 million US dollars (1702 crore rupees) in 2010 and it was the most expensive franchise on the IPL roster.

EC Issued Guidelines on Use of Social Media in Election Campaigning

The Election Commission of India on 25 October 2013 issued a series of instructions to political parties and candidates on utilising the Internet and social media websites for poll campaign and advertisements.

In this regard an order sent to Chief Electoral Officers of the States and the Union Territories, and recognised national and regional political parties in the country.
                                               

                       
EC new regulations came in the interest of maintaining transparency and a level playing field during polls EC Issued Guidelines on EC Issued Guidelines on Use of Social Media .

EC regulations would henceforth apply to all kinds of social media like collaborative projects (Wikipedia, etc.), blogs and micro blogs (like twitter.com), content communities (like YouTube), social networking sites (like Facebook) and virtual game-worlds (like Apps).

Instructions of Election Commission of India

1. Every candidate, at the time of filing the nomination, has to give their e-mail IDs and accounts of their social networking sites, if any, for monitoring by poll or expenditure officials.

2.Contents of the advertisements issued by parties or candidates in such websites should be pre-certified by the appropriate authorities and all expenditure made towards such campaign or advertisement would be included in the election expenditure accounts of candidates or parties.

3.The provisions of the code of conduct and related instructions issued by it would apply to the content being posted on the Internet, including the social media websites, by candidates and parties.

4.Payments made to social media websites for carrying advertisements, expenditure on development of content, and spending on salaries for staff hired to maintain the social media accounts of the parties and the candidates would be included in poll expenses.

The Election Commission’s order is significant in view of the upcoming Assembly polls in Delhi, Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh, Mizoram and Rajasthan and 2014 general elections.

India Sports 2014 Was Launched By Sports Ministry & FICCI To Promote Sports Among Youth

The Union Ministry of Youth Affairs & Sports and Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI) on 23 October 2013 launched 'India Sports 2014' to promote sports among youth in the country.
                                                         

                                                                     
India Sports 2014 launched during the 5th Global Sports Summit at New Delhi on 23 October 2013.

About India Sports 2014

India Sports 2014 would be organized at the National Stadium and Federation House, FICCI, New Delhi. The event will be an umbrella programme, focusing on all aspects of sports and will bring the entire sports fraternity on one platform.

The programme will not only serve as a platform for the Indian sports industry to showcase their strength but will also act as a catalyst in promoting sports amongst the youth.

The event will include an international exhibition on sports sector at the National Stadium, an international conference on sports sector, reverse buyer-seller meet by sports goods export promotion council, networking dinner and concurrent sports activities and tournaments.

Sania Mirza in Top 10 of World Women’s Doubles Rankings

Indian tennis ace Sania Mirza came into the top 10 of the world women's doubles by gaining two spots to ninth place in the latest WTA Team Rankings issued on 21 October 2013.
                                         

                                 
Sania Mirza jumped from 11th spot to 9th spot. The 26-year-old Sania moved up as a result of other players dropping points.

Sania Mirza had won back-to-back titles as she lifted the China Open trophy, followed by another triumph in Pan Pacific Open in Tokyo in the month of October 2013. Her partner Cara Black of Zimbabwe too gained a position to be at number 13.

Italians Sara Errani and Roberta Vinci hold on to the joint number one ranking, while Su-Wei Hseih climbed two spots to number four and Katrina Srebotnik moved one spot higher to number three.

About Sania Mirza

Sania Mirza (born 15 November 1986) is a professional Indian tennis player from Hyderabad. She is the first ever Indian to break into the top 30 WTA rankings in singles and top 10 in doubles.  Sania Mirza has won one WTA singles title so far, at Hyderabad in 2005. She also won 19 WTA doubles titles so far.

First Unit of Kudankulam Nuclear Power Plant Synchronised with Southern Power Grid

The first unit of the Kudankulam Nuclear Power Plant (KKNPP) was on 22 October 2013 synchronised with the southern regional electricity grid.  Earlier, the nuclear reactor achieved criticality on 13 July 2013.
                                                         

                                                                     
The power generation in the nuclear reactor will be increased in stages to attain full capacity of 1000 MW by end of 2014. As the nuclear plant is synchronized to the southern grid, the power generation will now be increased to 500 MW, 750 MW, 900 MW and then finally 1000 MW.

Nuclear Power Corporation of India is constructing two 1000 MW units at KNPP jointly with Russia at Kudankulam in Tiruneveli district, 650 km from Chennai. The Kudankulam nuclear power plant which was to be commissioned on December 2007 got inordinately delayed because of protests by locals.

Kudankulam is the first pressurized water reactor belonging to light water reactor category in the country.

About KKNPP

The Kudankulam Nuclear Power Project (KKNPP) is an Indo‐Russian joint venture for establishig a nuclear power station with 2 units (KKNPP‐1&2) of 1000 MWe Pressurized Water Reactors of VVER design at Kudankulam in Tamilnadu.

Synchronization in power plants

When two power supplies are to be connected to a common distribution, voltages, frequencies and phase angles of both power plants should be adjusted to equal values (or grid values). Synchronization supports the generation and transfer the electricity.

Criticality in Nuclear power plants

Criticality is the term refers to the balance of neutrons in the nuclear system. In a nuclear reactor, the neutron number at any instant is a function of the rate of neutron production (due to fission processes) and the rate of neutron losses (via non-fission absorption mechanisms and leakage from the system). When a reactor’s neutron population remains steady from one generation to the next (creating as many new neutrons as are lost), the fission chain reaction is self-sustaining and the reactor's condition is referred to as critical.

When the reactor’s neutron production exceeds losses, characterized by increasing power level, it is considered supercritical, and when losses occur, it is considered subcritical and shows decreasing power.

United Nation’s Security Council Elected 5 New Non-Permanent Members

Chad, Chile, Lithuania, Nigeria and Saudi Arabia elected to seats as non-permanent members by the United Nations Security Council in the 15-member Council on 17 October 2013.

These members have been elected for two-year term which would start from January 2014.
                                                     

The New Council members will replace Azerbaijan, Guatemala, Morocco, Pakistan and Togo Security Council Elected 5 New Non-Permanent Members.

Non-permanent members Argentina, Australia, Luxembourg, the Republic of Korea and Rwanda will remain on the Council until the end of 2014. India had served as a non-permanent member at the council in 2011-2012.

There are six principal organisations of UN which maintains peace and security of the world. The Organisations are-General Assembly, the Security Council, The Economic and Social Council, the Trusteeship Council, the  International Court of Justice and the Secretariat.

Structure of Security Council

Article 23 of chapter V of United Nations Charter provides for the composition of United Nations Security Council. The council is composed of 15 members. There are 5 permanent members of Security Council and 10 non –permanent members. Five permanent members are: China, France, Russian Federation, the United Kingdom, and the United States of America. Ten non-permanent members are elected for 2 years term by General Assembly and these members can not be immediately re –elected.

Objective of the Security Council

The Objective of UNSC is to maintain peacekeeping operations, the establishments of international   sanctions and the authorization of military action.

The powers of UNSC are exercised through United Nations Security Council resolutions.

All Member States are obligated to comply with Council decisions. In some cases, the Security Council can resort to imposing sanctions or even authorize the use of force to maintain or restore international peace and security.

Jorge Lorenzo Won Australian Grand Prix 2013

Jorge Lorenzo won the Australian Grand Prix on 20 October 2013 at the Australian Motorcycle Grand Prix in Phillip Island. The strong contender Marc Marquez was disqualified for delaying a compulsory pit stop. Lorenzo of Yamaha, won a race shortened to 19 laps by 6.9 seconds from Honda’s Dani Pedrosa and veteran Valentino Rossi.                                                    

                   

Marquez was disqualified five laps from the finish after staying on the track one lap longer than permitted before he took a pit stop.Jorge Lorenzo Won Australian He couldn’t gain any points from the race which allowed Lorenzo to close his lead in the championship standings to 18 points with two rounds remaining.

Compulsory bike changes were required for the first time in Motor GP history in the race. It was reduced from 27 to 19 laps because of safety concerns over the tires on the resurfaced Phillip Island circuit.

Union Cabinet Approved A Committee on Babhli Barrage Project

The Union cabinet of India approved on 17 October 2013 the appointment of a three-member supervisory committee headed by a representative of the Central Water Commission on construction of Babhli Barrage issue.                                                                                      

                                           
The other two members of the committee were including one representative from the state of Andhra Pradesh and one representative from the Maharashtra.

The Union Government took this decision to implement the direction the Supreme Court of India.

The Supreme Court was directed the Centre to constitute a three-member Supervisory Committee to deal with the Babhli Barrage issue on 28 February 2013.

About The Babhli barrage     

• The Babhli project / barrage is a controversial reservoir project being constructed by Maharashtra state across the river Godavari.
• The project brought dispute between Andhra Pradesh and Maharashtra states.

Background

• The State of Andhra Pradesh in May, 2005 brought to the notice of the Central Government that Government of Maharashtra was constructing Babhli barrage in the submergence area of Sriram Sagar Project in violation Godavari Water Disputes Tribunal award.

• In this regard Central Water Commission (CWC) held two meetings with officers of the States of Andhra Pradesh and Maharashtra in 2005.  Besides, another meeting was held between the officers of the States of Andhra Pradesh and Maharashstra in 2005.

• But the matter could not be resolved despite meetings by Central Water Commission between the two states.

• The Andhra Pradesh government filed a case in the Supreme Court of India against Maharashtra and the Government of India and asked the Supreme Court of India to grant a permanent injunction restraining Maharashtra from undertaking or proceeding with the construction Babhli Barrage.

• The Supreme Court directed the Union Government to constitute a three-member Supervisory Committee to deal with the issue.

About Central Water Commission

• Central Water Commission is a premier Technical Organization of India in the field of Water Resources.

• It is functioning as an attached office of the Ministry of Water Resources, Government of India.

• The Commission is entrusted with the general responsibilities of initiating, coordinating and furthering in consultation of the State Governments concerned, schemes for control, conservation and utilization of water resources throughout the country, for purpose of Flood Control, Irrigation, Navigation, Drinking Water Supply and Water Power Development.

•It also undertakes the investigations, construction and execution of any such schemes as required.

Iran And P5+1 Group Agreed to Hold Talks on Iran’s Nuclear Programme

Iran and P5+1(Group of six major world powers comprising the US, France, Britain, Russia, China and Germany) were agreed on 16 October 2013 first time to hold talks on Iran’s nuclear programme.
TheP5+1 group was held two days intense, substantive and forward looking talks with Iran over its controversial nuclear program on 15-16 October 2013 in Geneva.
                                                                                       

                                     
According to the agreed plan between Iran and P5+1 Group, Iran ensured to the P5+1 group that it will use nuclear programme for peaceful purpose.

According to the agreed plan all nuclear activities in Iran will supervised by the International Atomic Energy Agenc( IAEA)

Javad Zarif ,Iran’s foreign Minister  while accepting the proposal of P5+1 group hoped that the results achieved over two days of talks in Geneva will mark the beginning of a new phase in relations between Iran and the P5+1 countries.

Iran and the P5+1 group were previously held talks in Almaty, Kazakhstan April 5-6 2012. The two sides had resumed negotiations in Almaty in February 2013 after a nine-month interval. Each side brought a proposal to the April talks, but failed to reach consensus on a way forward and no further meetings were scheduled. But Iran and P5+1 group were agreed first time to hold talks on Iran’s nuclear parogramme.

About P5+1 Group

• The P5+1 Group, a group of six world countries (United States, Russia, China, United Kingdom, and France plus Germany).
• It was formed in 2006 to resolve the nuclear progamme in Iran.