Current Affairs - 20 October 2014

Modi wave washes away Congress again; BJP reaffirms status as dominant political force in India

• NEW DELHI: BJP wrested control of Haryana and was set to do so in Maharashtra on Sunday in an outcome that entrenches its status as the dominant political force and Narendra Modi as currently the country's most popular politician. The ouster of the ruling party from these two states, Congress, also underscored its continuing political marginalization.
  
  Devendra Fadnavis, the 44-year-old MLA from Nagpur South-West, is likely to be the next chief minister of Maharashtra after BJP ended the 15-year reign of Congress and NCP in the state. In Haryana, BJP won a majority, relegating Om Prakash Chautala and Congress to second and third spots respectively. The CM of the state will be decided shortly.
  
  BJP won 122 seats in Maharashtra, three more seats than what its estranged ally, Shiv Sena, was offering it for contest when talks broke down. Sena, the dominant partner in the saffron alliance so far, finished second with 63 seats. Congress ended third with 42, just one ahead of its former partner NCP, which surprisingly offered unconditional outside support to BJP, which can only strengthen BJP's hand if it seeks a deal with Sena.
  
  Although short of numbers, the party is headed to form its first-ever government in the state which sends 48 members to Lok Sabha. NCP's offer apart, indications were that Sena was also willing to repair ties, putting BJP in a position where it can choose from suitors. It is sitting pretty, with sources swiftly scotching reports that party chief Amit Shah called Uddhav Thackeray to offer a rapprochement.

Amit Shah now second most influential politician in country

• NEW DELHI: With the party emerging as No. 1 in Maharashtra and set to form the state government, and winning Haryana outright, Amit Shah has emerged as the most influential man in BJP after Narendra Modi. Even for Modi, Shah is the to-go man — the one who can ruthlessly turn the PM's popular appeal into bagfuls of votes.
  
  To win Modi's full trust hasn't been easy. Here's an example of Shah's commitment to the BJP's cause. His chopper was about to land in Pune when he received a distress call from a BJP candidate somewhere in the Konkan region. The candidate had turned into a bundle of nerves that evening after learning that Goa CM Manohar Parrikar would not be able to make it to the rally in his constituency.
  
  The BJP chief calmed him down. Though he had important party leaders waiting for him in Pune, Shah asked his pilot to fly to Konkan. He addressed the meeting there and got an insight too — the turnout convinced him that the decision to sever ties with Shiv Sena was the right one. On reaching Mumbai, he called a strategy session well past midnight.
  
  Shah's said to be a 24x7 politician who took the gamble of going it alone in Maharashtra and Haryana when even his well-wishers counselled against taking the risk just after the reverses in assembly bypolls. The 'audacity' paid off, and Shah was on Sunday the toast of the party - a stunning transformation for the man who had to leave Gujarat only a couple of years ago on court orders.

Non-jat likely to head first BJP regime in Haryana

• NEW DELHI: For the first time ever, BJP has won an absolute majority in Haryana, winning a brave gamble to go it alone in a state where its best performance so far was 29 seats, and that too in partnership with INLD. By winning 47 of the 90 seats this time, BJP has altered the political equations of a state that has been dominated by jat leaders.
  
  In this election, BJP focused on non-Jat votes, assessing that the Jat vote was likely to be divided between O P Chautala's INLD and BhupinderHooda's Congress. While the party has not yet decided on its chief minister, indications are that it will be a non-Jat. 
  
  INLD has come second with 19 seats, while Congress - like in Maharashtra - is a poor third with just 15 seats. INLD had secured 31 seats the last time, while Congress had won 40 seats. INLD's failure to turn the anti-Congress tide in its favour is significant given that Chautala, convicted in a corruption case, had pulled out all stops campaigning while on bail secured on medical grounds.
  
  Riding high on the momentum generated during the Lok Sabha polls, when it led in 51 assembly segments in the state, BJP decided to strike out on its own. Its move was helped by its erstwhile partner Haryana Janhit Congress insisting on a 50:50 seat-sharing ratio, even though it had failed to win either of the two seats it had fought in the Lok Sabha election. 

Vidarbha’s 2-state man may be in Mantralaya as united CM

• NAGPUR: For many, Devendra Fadnavis' defining image is of him thundering, "Maharashtrawadiyanno, chaalte wha" (Pro-Maharashtra people; buzz off) in the state assembly as he passionately made the case for a separate Vidarbha. Beyond the obvious irony of such a person becoming the chief minister of Maharashtra lies a unique political career. His rise in Maharashtra politics has been exceptional. A Brahmin, he's risen to the top in a milieu dominated by Maratha politics.
  
  A meteoric rise apart, he remains the quintessential boy next door. A well-educated family man, he joins his wife on stage during musical soirees, at times. His staff, who have been with him for years, appreciate both the fact that he never raises his voice and that he looks after them well. At a time when even petty politicians begin feathering their nest from the word go, he remains squeaky clean. He controls no educational empire or cooperative, has not taken any concessional land or loans from government, has no web of shell companies to mask his financial transactions. On the contrary, he is known for having exposed many scandals. Yet, he is no Arvind Kejriwal. He seems okay with the paradigm of expensive, high-decibel campaigns that are integral to the winning elections.

Nitish, Mamata on target as Amit Shah moves on to Bihar, Bengal

• NEW DELHI: A buoyant BJP has now identified Bihar and West Bengal as the next frontier as it seeks to spread the saffron sphere of influence to the east.
  
  Sources said that wresting Bihar from Nitish Kumar and emerging as the chief opponent of Mamata Banerjee in West Bengal figures high on the priority list of party chief Amit Shah.
  
  Although Jharkhand goes to elections earlier, that is before the year ends, Shah does not consider it to be a major challenge because of the unpopularity of the JMM-Congress coalition. The targets for Jammu & Kashmir, another state where elections are due this year, are limited to boosting the party's strength in the state assembly.
  
  Bihar with its complex caste chemistry offers a bigger challenge, also because the success of BJP in the LS elections forced Nitish Kumar to enter into an awkward alliance with his arch rival Lalu Prasad. However, Shah considers the secular combination to be vulnerable and hopes to overwhelm it by engineering a rainbow coalition of upper castes, most backward castes, sections of dalits and OBCs other than Yadavs and Kurmis.

End of ‘Rahul era’ even before it began?

• NEW DELHI: Rahul Gandhi addressed ten rallies in Maharashtra and Haryana. When seen in contrast with his own extensive campaigning during the Lok Sabha elections, the reality that mother Sonia Gandhi is not her usual self, and the carpet bombing of rallies by Narendra Modi, it appeared a tame effort betraying lack of optimism.
  
  But given the evidence of results, it may have been a calibrated exposure to insulate him from in-party critics likely to point out that he had failed the test of popular appeal once again. 
  
  It is a tough time for the Congress heir apparent already under attack for his leadership abilities. The question looming large is if there would be another burst of criticism from Congressmen. In such times, partymen have devised a new slogan to sweeten the bitter pill -Priyanka Vadra should take the plunge to help the brother. Not a very comforting thought for the young leader in crisis. 
  
  Priyanka and Congress have time and again clarified there is no such plan. But the incessant demands from Congressmen may find another outlet in the twin assembly defeats. As the results poured out, a group of Congress workers assembled outside AICC headquarters, waving posters of "Priyanka Lao, Congress Bachao" (Bring Priyanka, Save Congress). 
  
  A direct outburst against the Gandhi scion seems unlikely, it having happened after the Lok Sabha polls. But partymen are keeping a watch on the criticism of party managers who are perceived to be close to him. That would be an indirect way of questioning Rahul.

Controlling the message: Modi chooses state media over private news outlets

• NEW DELHI: Prime Minister Narendra Modi has anointed the state-backed broadcaster as his media brand of choice, helping shield the government from tough questions and prompting private news outlets to complain that they are being kept out of the loop.
  
  Starchy and unpolished, Doordarshan News and All India Radio (AIR) were not the obvious choice for a government that took power in May after a high-octane election campaign that used special effects to beam Modi's image to rallies across the nation.
  
  But the old-fashioned outlets are expected to offer one big advantage over their slicker private rivals: a less combative and questioning platform from which Modi can get his message out to tens of millions of Indians.
  
  Carefully controlled communication has been a defining characteristic of the new government since Modi's BJP swept to power.
  
  Critics see it as one symptom of a broader leadership style under Modi that has weakened opponents, sidelined ministers and concentrated power in the Prime Minister's Office (PMO).
  
  Information and broadcasting minister Prakash Javadekar said Modi's preference for the public broadcaster was not an attempt to suppress information or limit access.
  
  "I think everyone must welcome it. He has not banned anybody, his programmes are telecast live, practically on all channels, so where is the issue? There is no denying somebody access."

As BJP rises, sun may set on regional parties

• NEW DELHI: In the last nearly three decades, national political dynamics has been perceived more as a sum total of state politics — a coalition of regional outfits led by a national party conjuring up majority in Lok Sabha.
  
  It all started with the coming together of Janata Dal, BJP and Left in the V P Singh experiment in much less regionalized times of the late eighties. The pattern held in Congress support for a ragtag Janata Dal splinter under Chandra Shekhar and later with the advent of the BJP-led NDA regime under Atal Bihari Vajpayee. Congress followed suit with its own version of UPA for a decade. 
  
  But in 2014, a giant leap under Narendra Modi to a majority government for the BJP, the first in 30 years, and now the growing saffron footprint across states, raises the possibility of a return to nationalization of a regionalized polity. Is it back to the era of one-party rule a la Congress before the 1990s?
  For the captain on the deck of a racing saffron cruise, the possibility seems here and now. BJP is deeply entrenched in central India where it has successfully elbowed out premier rival Congress. Modi now seems bent on building on the gains of his newfound national stature to spread the base in east India where Bengal and Assam hold the delicious prospect of the party emerging a crucial player. Ditto Jharkhand.

Sensex up over 300 points on energy reform, elections

• MUMBAI: The benchmark BSE Sensex spurted by over 392 points in opening trade on Monday on a rally by oil & gas and PSU stocks after the government on Saturday deregulated diesel prices and BJP stormed to power in Haryana and is all set to form government in Maharashtra. 
  
  Besides, a firming trend at other Asian markets following weekend sharp gains in US on the back of upbeat earnings, buoyed the sentiments here. 
  
  The 30-share Sensex zoomed by 392.51 points, or 1.50 per cent, to trade at 26,501.04. The gauge had gained 109.19 points in Friday's trade. 
  
  All the sectoral indices, led by PSU and oil & gas, were trading in the positive territory with gains up to 2.83 per cent. 
  
  The 50-share NSE Nifty, reclaimed the 7,800-mark by soaring 103.70 points, or 1.33 per cent, to 7,883.40. 
  
  Brokers said sentiments turned bullish on the back of oil and gas reforms announced by the government and BJP's stellar show in the Assembly elections in Haryana and Maharashtra. 
  
  In the oils and gas segment, stocks of ONGC climbed 5.26 per cent, GAIL (2.04 per cent) and Oil India Ltd (2.27 per cent). 
  
  Meanwhile, in a major reform push, the government on Saturday deregulated diesel prices but hiked natural gas tariff by 46 per cent that will push up fertiliser, power, CNG and PNG rates. 

IBPS P.O. EXAM GENERAL AWARENESS SOLVED QUESTIONS (EXAM HELD ON: 18-10-2014 - MORNING SHIFT)

• 1.    Currency of Spain – Euro
  
  
  2.    Jan Dhan Yojana Benefits – Overdraft Loan in Bank Account
  
  
  3.    Foreign Institutional Investor – FII
  
  
  4.    Writer of The Mother I Never Knew - Sudha Murthy
  
  
  5.    L stands in SLR- liquidity
  
  
  6.    Money laundering is done to- Avoid tax
  
  
  7.    Abhinav Bindra wins Two Bronze & Retirement
  
  
  8.    When did Manalapan reach Mars - 24 September 2014
  
  
  9.    In how days KYC custom fill identity proof – 5 working days
  
  
  10.  Nuku’alofa is the capital of – Tonga
  
  
  11.  Nitin Gadkari related to which ministry - Transport
  
  
  12.  Which Indian movie selected for  Oscar Award 2015  - Liar's Dice
  
  
  13.  PPF limit change from 1 lakh to 1.5 lakh
  
  
  14.  Largest hydroelectric power plant in India – Koyna
  
  
  15.   Fusion points agreement 118 countries related to –
  
  
  16.  What is 'M' in MIFF- Mumbai (MIFF- Mumbai International Film festival)
  
  
  17.  Heidelberg Cement India': - Ashish Guha
  
  
  18.  Mogadishu is the capital of – Somalia
  
  
  19.  Basic saving bank deposit account maximum credit amount in a year – 1 lkh
  
  
  20.  NIM full form- Net Interest Margin
  
  
  21.  MTSS- Money Transfer Service Scheme
  
  
  22.  kisan vikas patra was closed by govt. earlier why  - to avoid Money laundering activities
  
  
  23.  Vishal Sikka is CMD of which company - Infosys
  
  
  24.  One question on Negotiable Instruments Act, 1881
  
  
  25.  Rbi issued the permission to Muthoot finance to set up - white label ATM
  
  
  26.  SBI life insurance partnered with – BNP Paribas Cardif 
  
  
  27.  Merchant payments in India is controlled by - SEBI
  
  
  28.  According to census 2011 Every ____ in the world population is Indian.
  
  
  29.  Who gave the principle of objects submerged partially or fully in water – Archimedes