Daily GK Updates: 2nd Sept 2014

 

1.   India to get USD 35 bn from Japan for infra projects

i.India will get USD 35 bn from Japan over the next five years for developmental projects, including building of smart cities and next generation infrastructure as also cleaning of the Ganga, as Premier Shinzo Abe on Monday pledged to partner PM Narendra Modi's ambitious vision of inclusive development.

ii. The two sides also signed five pacts covering defence exchanges, cooperation in clean energy, roads and highways, healthcare and women while vowing to take their relationship to newer level.

iii. Abe expressed his intention to realise 3.5 trillion Yen (Rs 2,10,000 crore, USD 35 billion) of public and private investment and financing from Japan, including Overseas Development Assistance (ODA), to India in five years, it said.

iv. The USD 35 billion funding, at an average of USD 7 billion per year, would be the highest from any country and Modi expressed gratitude to Abe for this.

v. The two Prime Ministers welcomed the signing of the document to promote partnership city arrangement between the ancient cities of Varanasi and Kyoto.

2.   Japan to work with India in finding sickle cell anaemia remedy

i.Japan on Sunday agreed to work with India in developing a treatment for the sickle cell anaemia after Prime Minister Narendra Modi sought help for finding remedy to the deadly disease commonly found among tribals in India.

ii. Modi, who has been keenly looking for a remedy to the disease since his days as Chief Minister of Gujarat, discussed the issue with Nobel Prize winner for Medicine (2012) S Yamanaka when he visited the Kyoto University.

iii. Yamanaka is also the Director of the University. The Prime Minister, on the second day of his tour, raised the issue during his visit to the Stem Cell Research facility and discussed whether Japan could be of help in this regard.

3.   RBI issues amendments to Basel 3 norms

i. The Reserve Bank of India has allowed banks to issue additional Tier 1 capital instruments, the principal amount of which would absorb losses, either through conversion into common shares or a write-down mechanism that allocates the losses to the instruments, either temporarily or permanently.

ii. Unveiling a slew of amendments in the implementation of the Basel 3 regulations, the RBI said that banks must have a provision of Point of Non-Viability (PONV) for every non-equity instrument which, when triggered, would lead to a conversion to common shares (of the bank) or a permanent write-off.

iii. The regulator has reduced the minimum tenor after which call options are permissible in perpetual debt instruments from 10 to five years.

iv. The minimum maturity of Tier 2 debt instruments has also been reduced from 10 to five years.

4.   United Bank of India declared Vijay Mallya as wilful defaulter

i. United Bank of India on 1 September 2014 declared debt-ridden Kingfisher Airlines and its owner Vijay Mallya as wilful defaulters. Three Kingfisher Airlines Ltd directors A.K. Ganguly, Subhash Gupte and Ravi Nedungadi were also declared as wilful defaulters.
ii. This declaration would cut off further bank finance for UB Group companies by empowering banks to change course for managing firms who fail to pay. Banks will now initiate criminal proceedings against Mallya and force him to quit company boards.

Impact of wilful defaulter tag on Vijay Mallya's position
i. Mallya may have to quit as non-executive chairman of United Spirits Ltd. in which a British company Diageo Plc holds nearly 55 percent of the shares.
ii. Mallya will have to step down as Mangalore Chemicals chairman. On 22 April 2014, Pune-based Deepak Fertilisers and Petrochemicals Corp. Ltd launched a bid for Mangalore Chemicals.

Wilful Default
i. A wilful default occurs when either a borrower has not repaid when he can do so, or when sanctioned funds have been used for other purposes or when the borrower disposes off the assets assured for availing of the loan without the bank’s knowledge.

ii. According to the guidelines of Reserve Bank of India (RBI), once a wilful defaulter notice is issued, the borrower has 15 days to defend himself in front of the bank. The wilful defaulter tag gives surety that the borrower and any firm on the board of which he is a director will not get a loan from any financial institution in future.

iii. The tag wilful defaulter entails serious consequences including penal consequences. Thus, Kingfisher Airlines (KFA) and Vijay Mallya were deprived of an opportunity to be represented by a trained legal professional.

5.   Congress members to head 5 Parliamentary Standing Committees

i. Congress has secured chairmanship of five Parliamentary Standing Committees after failing to get the Leader of theOpposition post in the Lok Sabha.

ii. Its members M. Veerappa Moily, Shashi Tharoor and P. Bhattacharya will now head the important committees on Finance, External Affairs and Home respectively.

iii. The main Opposition party has also got chairmanship of standing committees for Science and Technology and Law and Personnel. While the former will be headed by ex-Law Minister Ashwani Kumar, the latter has E.M. Sudarsana Natchiappan as its chairman.

iv. Congress leader K.V. Thomas has already got the chairmanship of the prestigious Public Accounts Committee.

v. Rahul Gandhi is a member of the Committee on External Affairs, while Congress president Sonia Gandhi does not figure in any of the panels announced. In the last Lok Sabha, Ms. Gandhi had been a member of the Committee on HRD and Sports.

6.Renowned Kathak dancer Maya Rao died

i. Veteran Kathak dancer Maya Rao died on 1 September 2014 following a massive cardiac arrest on 31 August 2014. She was 86.

ii.Known for her mastery over abhinaya and dance ballet, Maya Rao helped the dance form Kathak to gain popularity in South India.

Maya Rao
• Born in 1928 in Bangalore, Maya Rao practised the Lucknow and Jaipur gharana of Kathak from Shambhu Maharaj and Sunder Prasad.
• She studied Masters in Choreography from the USSR in 1964.
• Maya’s ground-breaking work in choreography helped thousands of dancers in learning the composition and arrangement of dances.
• She trained over 4000 students across the globe in about eight decades of her career.

7.Carolina Marin became the first Spaniard to win World Badminton Championship

i.Carolina Marin on 31 August 2014 became the first Spaniard to win World Badminton Championship. The World Badminton Championship was held in Copenhagen, Denmark.
ii. Carolina won women’s singles titles by defeating world number one Li Xuerui of china. China’s Chen Long won the men’s singles titles of the World Badminton Championships.

8.   Oldest surviving Test cricketer Gordon passes away

i. South African fast bowler Norman Gordon, oldest surviving Test cricketer at 103 years old, passed away after a year long illness due to renal complications. Gordon played five Tests against England back in 1939 taking 20 wickets in all before World War cut short his international career.
ii. He was best known for being one of the 22 players, who took part in the epic 'Timeless Test' between England and South Africa that was held between March 3-14, 1939 in Durban.

9.   India among top three medical tourism destinations in Asia

i. A study by KPMG-FICCI says India ranks among the top three medical tourism destinations in Asia.
ii. This is mainly due to the low cost of treatment, quality health care infrastructure and availability of highly-skilled doctors.

iii. The report titled Medical Value Travel in India pointed out that Asian countries have introduced various marketing strategies to attract medical tourists.
iv. In the past few years, Asia has taken the lead as one of the most preferred destination for medical value travel.
v. The report added that India is known mostly for its cost-effective medical treatments along with high standards in cardiology, orthopaedics, nephrology, oncology and neuro surgery.
vi. The country is also known for its alternative treatment options such as yoga and ayurveda.

10.  India becomes No 1 in ICC ODI rankings

i. Their dominating performance against England coupled with Australia’s shock loss to Zimbabwe on Monday made India the sole number one team in the latest ICC ODI rankings issued here.

ii.“World champion India have been confirmed as the number-one ranked side in the Reliance ICC ODI Team Rankings following Zimbabwe’s three wickets victory over Australia in a triangular series match in Harare on Sunday,” the ICC said in a statement.

iii.India had joined Australia on top of the table after winning the third ODI in Nottingham at 114 ratings points, but took sole possession at the coveted number-one spot after Zimbabwe recorded their first victory over Australia in 31 years.

iv. This result meant Australia have dropped three ratings points and slipped behind South Africa and Sri Lanka into fourth position on 111 ratings points