Daily GK Update - 12th Dec 2014

1. Anurag Jain appointed as joint Secretary. 
i. Senior IAS officer Anurag Jain was appointed as the Joint Secretary in Prime Minister's Office (PMO) of India.

ii.A 1989 batch IAS officer of Madhya Pradesh cadre, is presently working as Joint Secretary in Department of Financial Services under the Finance Ministry.
iii. He has held various posts in the state including Collector, Bhopal and Secretary to Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan.

2. CBI arrests West Bengal Minister Madan Mitra in Saradha scam.
i.  Central Bureau of Investigation arrested West Bengal Transport Minster and senior Trinamool Congress leader Madan Mitra.
ii. CBI has arrested Madan Mitra, a Cabinet Minister in the Government of West Bengal on prima facie evidence of criminal conspiracy, cheating and misappropriation as well as deriving undue financial benefits from the Saradha Scam.
iii.Other than allegations of pressurising Saradha chairman and managing director Sudipta Sen, Mr. Mitra has publicly endorsed the Saradha group.

3.Tata Power acquired 540 MW thermal power plant for 3000 crore rupees.
i. Tata Power on acquired 540-megawatt (MW) thermal power plant in Maharashtra for 3000 crore rupees.
ii. The thermal plant was acquired from the promoters of IRB Infrastructure. With this deal, Tata Power aimed to increase its total capacity to 8885 MW.
iii. Tata Power used to be the nation's biggest private sector electricity producer but overtook by Adani power recently.

4.Delhi HC banned Xiaomi to sell phones in India over patent issue with Ericcson.
i. Delhi High Court on 10 December 2014 banned Xiaomi to sell phones in India over patent issue with Ericsson.
ii. The High Court ordered Xiaomi to not bring any new phones into India nor sell or advertise them here unless it resolves the legal issues surrounding its operations.

5. LS passes bill on coal block allocations.

i. Lok Sabha passed a bill which provides for fresh auction of 204 coal blocks de-allocated by the Supreme Court in September with the government allaying apprehensions of some parties that the legislation would lead to privatisation of the sector.

ii. The Coal Mines (Special Provisions) Bill, which replaces and Ordinance promulgated in October, was passed by voice vote overcoming demands by some opposition parties it be sent to the Parliamentary Standing Committee for closer scrutiny.

iii. The Bill provides for "allocation of coal mines and vesting of the right, title and interest in and over the land and mine infrastructure, together with mining leases, to successful bidders and allottees through a transparent bidding process.

6. 22 states, UTs support bill to prevent 'honour killings'.

i. As many as 22 states and Union Territories have supported a Law Commission recommendation to bring a bill to prevent 'honour killings', but govt on refused to fix a timeline to put in place a legal framework, saying a decision will be taken after due consultations.

ii. Law Minister D V Sadananda Gowda informed the Lok Sabha on Thursday that the policy decision to enact a legislation on the issue will be taken after considering the comments of all states and holding consultations with the stakeholders.

iii. In its 2001 report, the panel, then headed by Justice P V Redi, had recommended brining a bill "to provide for, in the interests of protecting individual liberty and preventing victimisation, prohibition of unlawful assemblies and other conduct interfering with the freedom of matrimonial alliances in the name of honour and tradition and for the matters connected therewith or incidental thereto."

7. Essar gets $1-bn loans, $8-bn crude.

i. Russian President Vladimir Putin, offered the Ruias-promoted Essar Group a $1-billion credit line and an $8-billion crude supply contract.

ii. The steel-to-oil Indian conglomerate signed two separate agreements with St Petersburg-based Vneshtorgbank (VTB) and Moscow-based Rosneft.

iii. Andrey Kostin, President and chairman of VTB Bank Management Board, signed a memorandum of understanding with Shashi Ruia, co-founder of Essar Group, to provide a credit facility of up to $1 billion.

iv. The financing follows the $1.2-billion successful transaction arranged in the first half of 2014 by VTB Capital.

8. India to face Pak in CT semifinal.
i. A cracker of a contest is on the cards when a confident India takes on a resurgent Pakistan in what promises to be a battle of attrition between the two traditional rivals at the Hero Champions Trophy hockey tournament.

ii. The match also provides India an opportunity to avenge their defeat at the hands of Pakistan in the bronze medal match in the last edition of the elite eight-nation tournament held at Melbourne in 2012.
iii. Going by present form and record, India definitely will enjoy an upper-hand over their neighbours.