Current Affairs - 2 October 2014

Jayalalithaa let other accused stay in house as part of plot to amass wealth, said judge

• 

  CHENNAI: A trail of suspicious financial transactions and seizure of assets apart, AIADMK chief J Jayalalithaa's decision to allow the other three accused — N Sasikalaa, V N Sudhakaran and J Elavarasi ​— to stay in her Poes Garden residence during her first stint as chief minister from 1991 to 1996 also nailed her in the disproportionate assets case.
  
  Special court judge John Michael Cunha, who convicted all the four and sentenced them to four years of imprisonment each on Saturday, said Jayalalithaa had accommodated the other accused in her house as part of a conspiracy "to acquire and hold properties for and on behalf of" her. Cunha said Sasikalas was Jayalalithaa's agent and the AIADMK chief tried to distance herself from her friend only with a view to securing relief from legal complications.
  
  Jayalalithaa, during the trial, feigned ignorance about the dealings of Sasikalaa and the other two accused, but the court said facts and circumstances proved undoubtedly that Jayalalithaa and the other accused were staying in her residence "not for social living" and nor was she providing "free accommodation" to them "out of humanitarian concern". Their staying together by itself may not mean there was a meeting of minds to pursue any conspiracy, but the larger question that arose and which remained unanswered was why they stayed under the same roof when they had separate families and were not related to Jayalalithaa. The three "engaged themselves in constituting firms and acquiring large tracts of land out of the funds provided" by Jayalalithaa, the court said.

In a first, India-US joint statement mentions South China Sea

• 

  NEW DELHI: For the first time, an India-US joint statement specifically mentioned the situation in South China Sea as President Barack Obama and PM Narendra Modi expressed concern about "rising tensions over maritime territorial disputes" in that region.
  
  The joint statement was issued after the bilateral meeting between the two leaders which took place days after the standoff with China in southeastern Ladakh ended with the withdrawal of both Chinese and Indian troops. The LAC impasse continued for several days even after President Xi Jinping assured Modi during his recent visit to India that the Chinese troops had been asked to withdraw.

China entered Sikkim during Ladakh face-off

• 

  NEW DELHI: While Indian border troops challenged the PLA at Chumar in Ladakh over a road China was building, India's northern neighbour persisted in building two more roads into Indian territory: one in Sikkim and another in Ladakh several kilometres away from Chumar.
  
  Both these roads were destroyed by Indian forces upon discovery and a confrontation arose. However they were resolved without another standoff.
  
  Sources within the security establishment say even when Indian and China forces were locked in an eyeball to eyeball confrontation in Chumar for over a fortnight last month, China built a road about 200 metres into Indian territory in Sikkim. Notably, there is no border dispute with China in Sikkim and the development thus had shocked Indian forces who viewed it as clear case of Chinese aggression.

Chai garam: Tea-seller Modi turns on the sales pitch in US

• 

  WASHINGTON: "I am business-minded and I know that no businessman is a donor, he's not here for charity. A businessman has to make profits on his investment; he must get a return for his investment. I am in favour of that," Prime Minister Narendra Modi told a packed crowd of American corporate leaders in his last engagement in Washington DC before returning home, pledging to roll out the red carpet instead of entangling them in red tape, and urging them to make haste before the queue to invest in India got too long. 
  
  It was the kind of blunt talk that US CEOs loved, and the applause that followed was prolonged and genuine. It was also the kind of aggressive salesmanship that only a leader with a fresh mandate, political momentum, and handsome parliamentary majority could make. In candidly inviting Americans to come and make money while helping India's economy grow ("You will earn and my people will get employment,") Modi laid out a starkly different style from his professorial predecessor Dr Manmohan Singh, who was well-respected but whose government also frustrated business leaders with its foot-dragging and ambivalent messaging.

One in five India Inc employees has seen work hours rise in last year: Study

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  MUMBAI: It's a truth universally known but rarely acknowledged that technology and better business prospects—instead of enabling a better work-life balance—are actually making people work longer hours. For at least one-fifth of India Inc's employees, the average number of working hours increased in key functions across sectors over the last year. 
  
  Growth in business, a smaller headcount, promotions and non-replacement of people who may have quit are some of the reasons why people are working more hours, according to findings from research undertaken by specialist recruitment firm Michael Page India. 
  
  In the financial services (banking, private equity, insurance, financial institutions) sector, 23% of the employees put in more hours (up to 15% or more) weekly, while in finance (chartered accountants, risk operations, etc) the figure stood at 24%. Employees in sales and marketing functions were hit the hardest: 31% had to log in extra hours. The figures for the human resource employees were a tad better at 22%. 
  
  Across these functions, a majority of employees maintained their weekly working hours during the period, while a small minority reduced the number of hours put in at work. 

Meet 17-year-old Joshua Wong: Central figure in Hong Kong protests

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  By Chris Buckley and Alan Wong 
  
  HONG KONG: The slight teenager with heavy rectangular glasses and a bowl cut stood above the ocean of protesters who had engulfed downtown Hong Kong. His deep voice was drowned out by cheers, but the crowd did not mind: They knew him and his message. It was Joshua Wong, a 17-year-old student activist who has been at the center of the democracy movement that has rattled the Chinese government's hold on this city. 
  
  "When I heard the national anthem starting to play, I certainly did not feel moved so much as angry," Mr. Wong said a few hours later, after a protest at a flag-raising ceremony on Wednesday morning to mark the Chinese National Day holiday. "When it tells you, 'Arise! All those who refuse to be slaves!' — why is our treatment today any different from the slaves?" 

Apple, Google to face heat over new privacy rules

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  WASHINGTON: A new battle is brewing over privacy for mobile devices, after moves by Google and Apple to toughen the encryption of their mobile devices sparked complaints from law enforcement.
  
  The issue is part of a long-running debate over whether tech gadgets should have privacy-protecting encryption which makes it difficult for law enforcement to access in time-sensitive investigations.
  
  FBI director James Comey reignited the issue last week, criticizing Apple and Google for new measures that keep smartphones locked down — without even the company holding the keys to unlock the data.
  
  "What concerns me about this is companies marketing something expressly to allow people to place themselves beyond the law," the FBI chief said, warning that law enforcement may be denied timely access, even with a warrant, in cases ranging from child kidnapping to terrorism.
  
  Former FBI criminal division chief Ronald Hosko made a similar point in an opinion piece in the Washington Post, citing a case in which the agency used smartphone data to solve a brutal kidnapping just in time to save the life of the victim.
  
  "Most investigations don't rely solely on information from one source, even a smartphone," he said. "But without each and every important piece of the investigative puzzle, criminals and those who plan acts destructive to our national security may walk free."
  
  Observers who follow privacy and encryption say they have seen this debate before.

GENERAL AWARENESS PRACTICE MCQs FOR SBI P.O. EXAM

• 1. A written order or unconditional promise to pay a fixed sum of money on demand or at a certain time is called.....
  1) Negotiable instrument
  2) Garnishee order
  3) Escheat
  4) Red corner notice
  5) None
• 2. In order to streamline the rules and regulations of negotiable instruments, the Negotiable Instruments Act was passed in ........
  1) 1818
  2) 1860
  3) 1872
  4) 1881
  5) 1901
• 3. Which of the following is the Negotiable Instrument?
  1) Bank draft, Bill of exchange, Bill of lading, Certificate of deposit, Cheque, Commercial paper, Dock warrant, Government promissory note, Hundi, Treasury bills, Warehouse receipt, Railway receipt and Railway reservation ticket
  2) Aeroplane ticket, Indian rail ticket, Bank draft, Bill of lading, Certificate of deposit, Commercial paper, Dock warrant, Government promissory note, Hundi, Treasury bills, Warehouse
  receipt, Railway ticket
  3) Bank draft, Bill of exchange, Bill of lading, Certificate of deposit, Cheque, Commercial paper, Dock warrant, Promissory note, Hundi, Treasury bills and Warehouse receipt
  4) Bank draft, Bill of exchange, Bill of lading, Certificate of deposit, Cheque, Commercial paper, Dock warrant, Government promissory note, Hundi, Treasury bills, Lorry receipt and Court order
  5) None
• 4. The important feature of the negotiable instrument is ......
  1) Consideration
  2) Transferable
  3) Validity
  4) Conditional
  5) All of above
• 5. An instrument in writing containing an unconditional order, addressed to a banker, to pay on demand a certain sum of money only to or to the order of certain person or to the bearer of instrument is called ......
  1) Cheque
  2) Bill of Lading
  3) Bill of Exchange
  4) Clayton Order
  5) Hundi
• 6. The correct option is .......
  1) Drawer is a person who make or draft the cheque
  2) Drawee is a bank in the case of all cheques
  3) Payee is a person to whom the cheque is given and is a person who take cash
  4) Sometimes the drawer and payee in cheques may be same
  5) All of above
• 7. Ramu has account in State Bank of India and he issued cheque to Rajesh. So ......
  1) Ramu is drawer, Rajesh is drawee and State Bank of India is payee
  2) Ramu is drawer, Rajesh and State Bank of India are drawees and any one of the above can be payee
  3) Ramu is drawer, State Bank of India is drawee and Rajesh is payee
  4) Rajesh is drawer, State Bank of India is drawee and Ramu is payee
  5) All of above are drawee
• 8. Whether drawer can be payee?
  1) No.
  2) Yes, but the permission of RBI necessary nowadays.
  3) Yes, by writing self cheque.
  4) Yes, but the permission of bank necessary.
  5) None
• 9. Which of the following is not an important feature of the Cheque?
  1) It must be in writing
  2) It must be drawn on specified banker
  3) Must be issued by drawer with the permission of the bank to the drawee
  4) The payee must be a definite person
  5) Always payable on demand but not otherwise
• 10. Bearer cheque means .......
  1) On cheque the cash cannot be taken without the permission of RBI
  2) Payee name is written on instrument and can take cash across the counter
  3) Payee name not revealed to banker and can take cash across the counter
  4) Cheque given on the first date of every month
  5) None
• 11. Crossed cheque means ......
  1) Two lines put across the cheque to invalidate it
  2) Ordering the bank to pay cash to anybody
  3) Putting two or three lines across the top left of the cheque asking the bank to pay cash to payee through account only
  4) The Cheque issued by RBI in favour of State governments and Central governments
  5) None
• 12. If the drawer specifies the name of the banker on the face of the cheque, it is called ......
  1) Zero crossing
  2) No crossing
  3) General crossing
  4) Special crossing
  5) Invalid crossing
• 13. Crossing of cheques can be done by ......
  1) drawer only
  2) drawee only
  3) drawer, drawee and payee also
  4) payee only
  5) RBI only
• 14. When the drawee can refuse the payment of cash to the payee?
  1) On receipt of notice of drawer's death
  2) On receipt of notice of the drawer's insanity
  3) Drawer requested the drawee to stop the payment
  4) On the receipt of garnishee order
  5) In all of the above situations, the drawee can refuse the payment
• 15. Stale cheque means ......
  1) Crossing the date of 31 March in every year
  2) Crossing the date of bank last working day in the month
  3) Cheque written with red pen
  4) Cheque validity period over from the writing date
  5) None
• 16. The validity of cheque is ........
  1) 18 months
  2) 6 months
  3) 9 months
  4) 12 months
  5) 3 months
• 17. If a cheque bears a date earlier than the date of occurrence, it means if the date written is the past date it is called .......
  1) No date cheque
  2) Every date cheque
  3) Last date cheque
  4) Antedated cheque
  5) Stale cheque
• 18. Are antedated cheques valid?
  1) Yes, unless it becomes stale
  2) No
  3) Yes, if the bank permits
  4) No, it is against to the rules of RBI
  5) None
• 19. Whether post dated cheque can be given to another person?
  1) No
  2) Yes, with the permission of the banker
  3) Yes
  4) Yes, if the drawer gets special permission from the central government
  5) None
• 20. Post dated cheque can be deposited in the banks?
  1) No
  2) Yes
  3) Yes, if the drawee accepts
  4) It is the will of any bank to accept or not to accept
  5) None of above
• 21. Which campaign has been rolled out to ensure that a functional toilet is available in every school before 15th August 2015?
  1) Rang Vidyalaya
  2) Swachh Sanskritalaya
  3) Swachh Vidyalaya
  4) Khel Vidyalaya
  5) None
• 22. UDAAN is an initiative of the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) to enable disadvantaged girl students and other students from SC/ ST & minorities to transit from school to post-school professional education especially in ........
  1) Science and Maths
  2) Science and English
  3) English and Communication skills
  4) Social and Local regional language
  5) None
• ANSWERS:
  
  1-1, 2-4, 3-3, 4-5, 5-1, 6-5, 7-3, 8-3, 9-3, 10-2
  11-3, 12-4, 13-3, 14-5, 15-4, 16-5, 17-4, 18-1, 19-3, 20-1, 21-3, 22-1