Daily GK Update - 29th Oct 2014

1.    Surya Prakash appointed as Chairman of Prasar Bharti Board

i. Surya Prakash appointed as the Chairman of Prasar Bharti Board for a term of three years. 

ii. He succeeded Mrinal Pande whose term ended on April 2014.

iii. He was appointed on the recommendation of a three-member committee headed by Vice President M Hamid Ansari and comprising of Press Council of India Chairman Markandey Katju and Information and Broadcasting Secretary Bimal Julka.

iv. At present, he is a Distinguished Fellow at the Vivekananda International Foundation in New Delhi and Director of India Foundation in New Delhi.

2.    All foreign bank accounts will be assessed by March 2015: AG

i. With the Centre submitting a list of 627 account holders in foreign banks to Supreme Court in the blackmoney case, Attorney General Mukul Rohatgi on Wednesday said that the deadline for investigation under the Income Tax Act into these accounts is 31st March 2015.

ii. He said that the court directed that the sealed envelope with the names be given to the Special Investigation Team (SIT) and also allowed the Centre to put its "problems regarding treaties with foreign nations" before the SIT. 

iii. "After that we shall request them to submit the report in the court by November 30," the AG said on Wednesday. 

iv. "There are about 627-628 accounts along with a status report which we have submitted in the Supreme Court today in a sealed cover. Last date for investigation and assessment into all these accounts is March 31, 2015. 

3.    India ranks 142 in latest "Ease of Doing Business" report: WB

i. India ranked 142 among the 189 countries surveyed for the latest World Bank's "Ease of Doing Business" report released on Wednesday, a drop by two places from the last year's ranking, as Singapore topped the list.

ii. The fall in India's ranking from the last year's 140 is mainly because other nations performed much better, Bank officials said. In the 2014 report, India had 52.78 points and this year it scored 53.97 points. 
iii. The latest ranking, however, does not take into account a slew of measures taken by the Modi Government to make India a business friendly destination. 

iv. Singapore with 88.27 points occupies the top position in the ease of doing business followed by New Zealand, Hong Kong, Denmark and South Korea respectively. 
v. Among other major countries, the US has been ranked seventh, Britain (eight), China (90), Sri Lanka (99), Nepal (108), Maldives (116), Bhutan (125), and Pakistan (128). 

4.    India has 2nd largest proportion of highly paid expats: Survey

i. India is home to the second largest proportion of high-earning expatriates in the world after China and ahead of countries such as Switzerland, Russia and Hong Kong - according to the seventh Expat Explorer survey by HSBC Expat.

ii. The Expat Explorer survey, conducted by YouGov, shared views of nearly 9,300 expats from around the world on the quality of life, financial well being and the ease of raising a family abroad.

iii. The survey also revealed that expats in India also report greater savings on everyday expenses and have substantial disposable income when compared to their home countries. Expats in India spend less on utilities (43%), groceries (42%), clothing (42%), healthcare (41%), housing (40%) and household goods (40%).

5.    ING Vysya Bank CEO Shailendra Bhandari resigned

i. Managing Director (MD) and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of ING Vysya Bank Shailendra Bhandari on 28 October 2014 resigned from his post after taking charge of the Bangalore-based private lender. 

ii. He will continue to be in the office till 31 January 2015. However, Bhandari's term was schedule to end in August 2015. He took charge of ING Vysya Bank in August 2009. 

iii. The appointment of Uday Sareen as MD & CEO of ING Vysya Bank is now subjected to approval of Reserve Bank of India.

6.    India offers USD 300mn credit line to Vietnam for trade

i. Targeting an annual bilateral commerce of USD 15 billion by 2020, India on Tuesday offered a USD 300 million credit line to Vietnam for trade diversification.

ii. India has already extended a USD 100 million Line of Credit (LoC) last month to the South East Asian nation for defence procurement to help it modernise its armed forces. 
iii. During a meeting of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Vietnamese counterpart Nguyen Tan Dung where they noted that enhancing economic cooperation should be pursued as a strategic objective, a USD 300 million LoC was offered by India to strengthen commercial ties, official sources said. 

iv. The Vienamese Prime Minister welcomed Indian companies to invest in Vietnam and affirmed his country's commitment to create favourable conditions for Indian investments. 

7.    Amitabh Bachchan summoned by US court for instigating violence during 1984 riots

i. Bollywood legend Amitabh Bachchan was recently in news as he was summoned by a US Federal Court in Los Angeles on 28 October 2014 for allegedly instigating violence against the Sikh community during the November 1984 riots.

ii. Amitabh Bachchan  was accused of raising the slogan Khooon Ka Badla Khoon (blood for blood) on 31 October  1984 after then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi was shot dead by her two Sikh bodyguards.

iii. The complaint against Amitabh Bachchan was filed by New York-based Sikh for Justice (SFJ) and two alleged victims Babu Singh Dukhiya and Mohender Singh of the anti-Sikh riots.

1984 anti-Sikhs riots
The November 1984 anti-Sikhs riots were a series of persecutions directed against Sikhs in India by anti-Sikh mobs in response to the assassination of Indira Gandhi by her Sikh bodyguards.

8.    Zambian President Michael Sata dies in London

i. Zambian President Michael Sata has died in London, where he had been receiving treatment for an undisclosed illness, three private Zambian media outlets said. Reuters news agency also reported that a government source had confirmed the death. 

ii. Sata's health has been a subject of debate since June this year when he disappeared from the public for almost three months with speculation that he had gone to Israel for specialized treatment while the government said he had gone on a working holiday. 

9.    Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami Chief sentenced to death for war crimes

i. In Bangladesh, the International Crimes Tribunal today sentenced the Jamaat -e-Islami Chief Motiur Rahman Nizami to death penalty for crimes against humanity during 1971 Bangladesh Liberation War. 

ii. Nizami was the leader of the Students' Wing of the Jamaat -e-Islami during the Liberation War, and headed the infamous Al-Badr militia.

iii. He was arrested in June, 2010, on charges of war crimes, and had been lodged in the Kashimpur jail during the investigations. The verdict has come almost 4 months after it was postponed in June, 2014 after Nizami fell ill on the verdict day.

10.  South Africa tops ICC ODI rankings; India slips to 3rd position

i. South Africa has moved to the top of latest ICC ODI rankings with 115 rating points thanks to its clean sweep against New Zealand.

ii. This is the first time in five years that South Africa has surged to the top of the ODI team table. It was the number-one team in ODI format for the last time in September 2009.

iii. Australia has climbed to second position with 114 points while India has slipped to third position with 113 points in the ranking. Among the batsmen Virat Kohli goes down to number three after AB Deviiliers and Hashim Amla. India’s skipper Dhoni is at number six while Shikhar Dhawan slips to number nine