Current Affairs - 12 December 2014

The United Nations Organisation (UNO) on 11 December 2014 declared which day as World Yoga Day, for which the Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi had urged the world community three months ago?

• 
  21 June
  The announcement to declare 21 June as World Yoga Day is being seen as a huge diplomatic win for India. Narendra Modi had asked the UN members to celebrate India’s Yoga as World Yoga Day during his address to the UN General Assembly during September 2014. Yoga is the 5,000-year-old Indian physical, mental and spiritual practice that aims to transform body and mind.

Union Govt. on 10 December 2014 decided to repeal Section 309 from the Indian Penal Code (IPC) claiming support of 18 states and 4 Union Territories. This Section is associated with which subject?

• 

  Attempt to commit suicide being declared a crime
  Section 309 of IPC makes the act punishable with jail term of up to one year and fine. The Law Commission in its 210threport on “Humanization and Decriminalisation of Attempt to Suicide” had recommended that Section 309 of IPC needs to be effaced from the statute book. The Commission had said Section 309 needs to be deleted because the provision is inhuman, irrespective of whether it is constitutional or unconstitutional. On 10 December, Union Govt. claimed that 18 states and 4 union territory administrations have supported that Section 309 of the IPC may be deleted.

According to the announcement made by Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley on 10 December 2014, the Centre has proposed to release how much money to the States towards Central Sales Tax (CST) compensation, as part of consensus building for GST rollout?

• 

  Rs. 11,000 crore
  CST compensation is one sticky issue that has been holding up agreement on introduction of the Goods and Services Tax (GST) regime to replace all indirect taxes. Clearance of CST compensation arrears has been a bone of contention between the Centre and States, as the States still wait for Rs 13,000 crore arrears pending till 2010. CST, a tax imposed on the inter-state movement of goods, was reduced from 4% to 3% in 2007-08 and further to 2% in 2008-09 after the introduction of Value-Added Tax (VAT). The Centre had then promised the states that it would bear losses due to reduction of CST. The Centre collects CST and distributes it among states. Rs.11,000 crore is one-third of the total CST compensation proposed to be paid to the States.

Mukesh Ambani led-Reliance Industries Limited (RIL) announced selling 49% stake in its iconic textile brand ‘Vimal’ to which Chinese textile company?

• 

  Shandong Ruyi Science & Technology Group
  Shandong Ruyi Science & Technology Group is $3 billion Chinese textile major and it is purchasing 49% stake in ‘Vimal’ for an undisclosed amount. It has its own major worldwide brands such as Harris Tweed and Taylor & Lodge. Selling this stake would be nostalgic for RIL as it was the first business under Reliance group. Reliance founder late Dhirubhai Ambani had established the ‘Vimal’ manufacturing plant at Naroda in Ahmedabad in 1966. The brand ‘Vimal’ was named after his elder brother Ramaniklal’s son. Vimal started as a saree brand and later focused on suiting fabrics in the early-nineties. But it got swamped by competition such as Raymond, Siyaram, S Kumar’s, Digjam and OCM. These players notched up better brand recall with more ad spending. The stake sale is being done as the focus of RIL shifted to its other businesses with much higher margins and the original business with which the group had started, contributed less than 1% to its revenues.  The ‘Vimal’ brand now accounts just $300-350 million of RIL’s total revenues of around $65 billion.

Who was named Time Magazine’s Person of the Year for 2014 as announced by magazine’s managing editor Nancy Gibbs on 10 December 2014?

• 

  Ebola Fighters
  While announcing this decision, Time said “These men and women did the hard and dangerous work in treating patients and protecting the rest of us.” The magazine applauded the fighters for demonstrating an “exceptionally great amount of courage and kindness and bravery.” Other finalists this year included Russian President Vladimir Putin, singer Taylor Swift, NFL commissioner Roger Goodell, Apple CEO Tim Cook and President of the Kurdistan Region in Iraq Massoud Barzani. The magazine also considered larger news stories, including the protestors in Ferguson, Missouri, following the killing of unarmed teenager Michael Brown. Chosen by the magazine’s editors each year, Time’s Person of the Year is an individual or group of individuals who have had the greatest impact on news that year.

The Delhi High Court in an interim order on 11 December 2014 banned which Chinese mobile company from importing and selling its mobile phones in India due to charges of patent infringement?

• 

  Xiaomi
  The High Court granted an ex parte injunction order against Xiaomi for allegedly infringing on Ericsson’s Standard Essential Patents (SEPs). Flipkart, online e-commerce site, was also restrained from selling Xiaomi through its website. The ex parte injunction against Xiaomi, reported by SpicyIP, stops the Chinese manufacturer from “selling, advertising, manufacturing or importing devices” that infringe upon Ericsson’s patents. Ericsson has been fighting manufacturers to protect its SEPs in the Indian legal system, including a lawsuit against Micromax last year.

What history was created by the Jammu & Kashmir (J&K) cricket team in Ranji Trophy on 10 December 2014?

• 

  It defeated 40 time Ranji Trophy champion Mumbai at their home
  J&K team, led by Parveez Rasool, defeated Mumbai in their Group A Ranji Trophy cricket opener at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai by successfully chasing the target of 237 runs. They won the match before lunch with more than a session to spare. This was the first clash between the two teams in 80 years of Ranji Trophy.

Virat Kohli, who made a brilliant 115 on 11 December 2014 against Australia in the first Test being played at Adelaide, achieved which feat with this Test century?

• 

  He became the fourth Indian to smash a hundred in his first Test as captain
  Virat Kohli is leading India for the first time in a Test match in the absence of Mahendra Singh Kohli. He scored a fighting century on the third day of the Test match against Australia. He thus became the fourth Indian to smash a hundred in his first Test as captain after Vijay Hazare (164 not vs England at Delhi in 1951-52), Sunil Gavaskar (116 vs New Zealand at Auckland in 1975-76) and Dilip Vengsarkar (102 in the second innings vs West Indies at Delhi in 1987-88).

List of Committees Related to Banking & Finance in India

• Here is the list of various Committees and their main Focus Areas
  1. A C Shah Committee:NBFC
  2. A Ghosh Committee:Final Accounts
  3. A Ghosh Committee:Modalities Of Implementation Of New 20 Point Programme
  4. A Ghosh Committee:Frauds & Malpractices In Banks
  5. Abid Hussain Committee:Development Of Capital Markets
  6. Adhyarjuna Committee:Changes In NI Act And Stamp Act
  7. AK Bhuchar Committee:Coordination Between Term Lending Institutions And Commercial Banks
  8. B Eradi Committee:Insolvency And Wind Up Laws
  9. B Sivaraman Committee:Institutional Credit For Agricultural & Rural Development
  10. B Venkatappaiah Committee:All India Rural Credit Review
  11. BD Shah Committee: Stock Lending Scheme
  12. BD Thakar Committee:Job Criteria In Bank Loans (Approach)
  13. Bhagwati Committee:Unemployment
  14. Bhagwati Committee:Public Welfare
  15. Bhave Committee:Share Transfer Reforms
  16. Bhide Committee:Coordination Between Commercial Banks And SFC's
  17. Bhootlingam Committee:Wage, Income & Prices
  18. C Rao Committee:Agricultural Policy
  19. CE Kamath Committee:Multi Agency Approach In Agricultural Finance
  20. Chatalier Committee:Finance To Small Scale Industry
  21. Chesi Committee:Direct Taxes
  22. Cook Committee (On Behalf Of BIS - Under Basel Committee ):Capital Adequacy Of Banks
  23. D R Mehta Committee:Review Progress And Recommend Improvement Measures Of IRDP
  24. Damle Committee:MICR
  25. Dandekar Committee:Regional Imbalances
  26. Dantwala Committee:Estimation Of Employments
  27. Dave Committee:Mutual Funds (Functioning)
  28. Dharia Committee:Public Distribution System
  29. DR Gadgil Committee:Agricultural Finance
  30. Dutta Committee:Industrial Licensing
  31. G Lakshmai Narayan Committee:Extension Of Credit Limits On Basis Of Consortium
  32. G Sundaram Committee:Export Credit
  33. Gadgil Committee (1969):Lead Banking System
  34. Godwala Committee:Rural Finance
  35. Goiporia Committee:Customer Service In Banks
  36. GS Dahotre Committee:Credit Requirements Of Leasing Industry
  37. GS Patel Committee:Carry Forward System On Stock Exchanges
  38. Hathi Committee:Soiled Banknotes
  39. Hazari Committee (1967):Industrial Policy
  40. IT Vaz Committee:Working Capital Finance In Banks
  41. J Reddy Committee:Reforms In Insurance Sector
  42. James Raj Committee:Functioning Of Public Sector Banks
  43. Jankiramanan Committee:Securities Transactions Of Banks & Financial Institutions
  44. JV Shetty Committee:Consortium Advances
  45. K Madhav Das Committee:Urban Cooperative Banks
  46. Kalyansundaram Committee:Introduction Of Factoring Services In India
  47. Kamath Committee:Education Loan Scheme
  48. Karve Committee:Small Scale Industry
  49. KB Chore Committee:To Review The Symbol Of Cash Credit Q
  50. Khanna Committee:Non Performing Assets
  51. Khusrau Committee:Agricultural Credit
  52. KS Krishnaswamy Committee:Role Of Banks In Priority Sector And 20 Point Economic Programme
  53. L K Jha Committee:Indirect Taxes
  54. LC Gupta Committee:Financial Derivatives
  55. Mahadevan Committee:Single Window System
  56. Mahalanobis Committee: Income Distribution
  57. Marathe Committee:Licensing Of New Banks
  58. ML Dantwala Committee: Regional Rural Banks
  59. Mrs. KS Shere Committee:Electronic Fund Transfer
  60. Nadkarni Committee:Improved Procedures For Transactions In PSU Bonds And Units
  61. Nariman Committee:Branch Expansion Programme
  62. Narsimham Committee:Financial System
  63. Omkar Goswami Committee:Industrial Sickness And Corporate Restructuring
  64. P R Nayak Committee:Institutional Credit To SSI Sector
  65. P Selvam Committee:Non Performing Assets Of Banks
  66. PC Luther Committee:Productivity, Operational Efficiency & Profitability Of Banks
  67. PD Ojha Committee:Service Area Approach
  68. Pendarkar Committee:Review The System Of Inspection Of Commercial, RRB And Urban Cooperative Banks
  69. Pillai Committee:Pay Scales Of Bank Officers
  70. PL Tandon Committee:Export Strategy
  71. PR Khanna Committee:Develop Appropriate Supervisory Framework For NBFC
  72. Purshottam Das Committee:Agricultural Finance And Cooperative Societies
  73. R Jilani Banks:Inspection System Of Banks
  74. R S Saria Committee:Agricultural Finance And Cooperative Societies
  75. Raghavan Committee:Competition Law
  76. Raja Chelliah Committee:Tax Reforms
  77. Rajamannar Committee:Centre - State Fiscal Relationships
  78. Rajamannar Committee:Changes In Banking Laws , Bouncing Of Cheques Etc.
  79. Rakesh Mohan Committee:Petro Chemical Sector
  80. Ram Niwas Mirdha Committee (JPC):Securities Scam
  81. Rangrajan Committee:Computerization Of Banking Industry
  82. Rangrajan Committee:Public Sector Disinvestment
  83. Rashid Jilani Committee:Cash Credit System
  84. Ray Committee:Industrial Sickness
  85. RG Saraiya Committee (1972):Banking Commission
  86. RH Khan Committee:Harmonization Of Banks And Ssis
  87. RK Hajare Committee:Differential Interest Rates Scheme
  88. RK Talwar Committee:Customer Service
  89. RK Talwar Committee:Enactment Having A Bearing On Agro Landings By Commercial Banks
  90. RN Malhotra Committee:Reforms In Insurance Sector
  91. RN Mirdha Committee:Cooperative Societies
  92. RV Gupta Committee:Agricultural Credit Delivery
  93. S Padmanabhan Committee:Onsite Supervision Function Of Banks
  94. S Padmanabhan Committee:Inspection Of Banks (By RBI)
  95. Samal Committee:Rural Credit
  96. SC Choksi Committee:Direct Tax Law
  97. Shankar Lal Gauri Committee:Agricultural Marketing
  98. SK Kalia Committee:Role Of NGO And SHG In Credit
  99. SL Kapoor Committee:Institutional Credit To SSI
  100. Sodhani Committee:Foreign Exchange Markets In NRI Investment In India
  101. SS Kohli Committee:Rehabilitation Of Sick Industrial Units
  102. SS Kohli Committee:Rationalization Of Staff Strength In Banks
  103. SS Kohli Committee:Willful Defaulters
  104. SS Nadkarni Committee:Trading In Public Sector Banks
  105. SS Tarapore Committee: Capital Account Convertibility
  106. Sukhmoy Chakravarty Committee:To Review The Working Of Monetary System
  107. Tambe Committee:Term Loans To SSI
  108. Tandon Committee:Follow Up Of Bank Credit
  109. Tandon Committee:Industrial Sickness
  110. Thakkar Committee:Credit Schemes To Self Employed
  111. Thingalaya Committee:Restructuring Of RRB
  112. Tiwari Committee:Rehabilitation Of Sick Industrial Undertakings
  113. UK Sharma Committee: Lead Bank Scheme (Review)
  114. Usha Thorat Panel: Financial Inclusion
  115. Vaghul Committee: Mutual Fund Scheme
  116. Varshney Committee:Revised Methods For Loans (>2 Lakhs)
  117. Venketaiya Committee:Review Of Rural Financing System
  118. Vipin Malik Committee:Consolidated Accounting By Banks
  119. VT Dehejia Committee:To Study Credit Needs Of Industry And Trade Likely To Be Inflated
  120. Vyas Committee:Rural Credit
  121. Wanchoo Committee:Direct Taxes
  122. WS Saraf Committee:Technology Issues In Banking Industry
  123. Y H Malegam Committee: Disclosure Norms For Public Issues
  124. YV Reddy Committee:Reforms In Small Savings
  Some Recent Working Groups & Committees by RBI & Their Focus Area:(Name of Chairmen is given)
  1. Working Group on Benchmark Prime Lending Rate (BPLR): Deepak Mohanty
  2. Working Group on Surveys: Deepak Mohanty
  3. High Level Committee to Review Lead Bank Scheme: Usha Thorat
  4. Working Group to Review the Business Correspondent Model: P Vijaya Bhaskar Rao
  5. High Level Group on Systems and Procedures for Currency Distribution: Usha Thorat
  6. G20 Working Group on Enhancing Sound Regulation and Strengthening Transparency: Dr. Rakesh Mohan and Mr. Tiff Macklem
  7. Committee on Financial Sector Assessment: Dr. Rakesh Mohan
  8. High Level Committee on Estimation of Savings and Investment: Dr. C. Rangarajan
  9. Committee on the Global Financial System (CGFS) on Capital Flows and Emerging Market Economies: Dr. Rakesh Mohan
  10. Task Force For Diamond Sector: A K Bera
  11. Technical Advisory Group on Development of Housing Start-Up Index in India: Prof. Amitabh Kundu
  12. Working Group on Defraying Cost of ICT Solutions for RRBs: Shri G. Padmanabhan
  13. Working Group on IT support for Urban Cooperative Banks: R Gandhi
  14. Working Group on Technology Upgradation of Regional Rural Banks: Shri G. Srinivasan
  15. Interest Rate Futures: Shri V.K. Sharma
  16. Internal Working Group to Study the Recommendations of the NCEUS Report: KUB Rao
  17. Working Group on Improvement of Banking Services in the Union Territory of Lakshadweep: S. Ramaswamy
  18. Working Group on Rehabilitation of Sick SMEs: Dr. K. C. Chakrabarty
  19. Working Group on Improvement of Banking Services In Jharkhand: V.S.Das
  20. Working Group on Improvement of Banking Services in Himachal Pradesh: Dr. J. Sadakkadulla
  21. Internal Technical Group on Seasonal Movements in Inflation: Dr. Balvant Singh
  22. Working Group to Examine the Procedures and Processes of Agricultural Loans: C P Swarankar
  23. Task Force on Empowering RRB Boards for Operational EfficiencyDr. K.G. Karmakar
  24. Technical Group Set up to Review Legislations on Money Lending: Shri.S. C. Gupta
  25. Working Group To Suggest Measures To Assist Distressed Farmers: Shri. S. S. Johl
  26. Technical Group on Statistics for International Trade in Banking Services: Shri K.S.R.Rao
  27. Technical Advisory Group On Development Of Leading Economic Indicators For Indian EconomyDr. R B Barman
  28. Working Group on Savings for the Eleventh Five Year Plan (2007-08 to 2011-12): Dr.Rakesh Mohan
  29. Working Group on Compilation of State Government Liabilities: Dr. N.D. Jadhav
  30. Working Group on Improvement of Banking Services in Uttaranchal: V.S. Das
  31. Working Group on Cost of NRI Remittances: P. K. Pain
  32. Working group to formulate a scheme for Ensuring Reasonableness of Bank Charges: N. Sadasivam
  33. Committee on Fuller Capital Account Convertibility: S.S.Tarapore
  34. Committee on Financial Sector Plan for North Eastern Region: Smt. Usha Thorat
  35. Survey on Impact of Trade Related Measures on Transaction Costs of Exports: Balwant Singh
  36. Advisory Committee on Ways and Means Advances to State Governments: M.P.Bezbaruah
  37. Need and Use Behavior for Small Denomination Coins: Sanal Kumar Velayudhan
  38. Debt Sustainability at State Level in India: Indira Rajaraman, Shashank Bhide and R.K.Pattnaik
  39. Internal Group to Examine Issues Relating to Rural Credit and Microfinance: Shri H.R.Khan
  40. Working Group to Review Export Credit: Shri Anand Sinha
  41. Internal Working Group on RRBs: Shri A V Sardesai
  42. Working Group on Warehouse Receipts and Commodity Futures: Shri Prashant Saran
  43. Internal Group to Review Guidelines on Credit Flow to SME Sector: Shri C.S.Murthy
  44. Working Group on Regulatory Mechanism for Cards Shri R.Gandhi
  45. Group on Model Fiscal Responsibility Legislation at State Level: Shri H R Khan
  46. Task Force on Revival of Cooperative Credit Institutions: Prof.A.Vaidyanathan
  47. Special Group for Formulation of Debt Restructuring Mechanism for Medium Enterprises: Shri G.Srinivasan
  48. Working Group on Screen Based Trading In Government Securities: Dr.R.H.Patil
  49. Expert Group on Internet Deployment of Central Database Management System (CDBMS): Prof.A.Vaidyanathan
  50. Report on Monitoring of Financial Conglomerates: Smt.Shyamala Gopinath
  51. Working Group on Development Financial Institutions: Shri N. Sadasivan
  52. Advisory Committee to Advise on the Administered Interest Rates and Rationalisation of Saving Instruments: Dr.Rakesh Mohan
  53. Advisory Committee on Flow of Credit to Agriculture: Prof.V.S.Vyas
  54. Working Group on Flow of Credit to SSI Sector: Dr.A.S.Ganguly
  55. Group to Study the Pension Liabilities of the State Governments: B. K. Bhattacharya
  56. Rupee Interest Rate Derivatives: Shri G. Padmanabhan
  57. Working Group on Instruments of Sterilisation: Smt. Usha Thorat
  58. Working Group on Information on State Government Guaranteed Advances and Bonds: Shri.G.Padmanabhan
  59. Working Group on Cheque Truncation and E-cheques: Dr.Barman, ED
  60. Working Group on Introduction of Credit Derivatives in India: Shri B. Mahapatra
  61. Group to Assess the Fiscal Risk of State Government Guarantees: Smt. Usha Thorat
  62. Advisory Committee on Ways and Means Advances to State Governments: Shri C.Ramachandran
  63. Working Group on Rupee Derivatives: Shri Jaspal Bindra
  64. Committee on Computer Audit: Shri A.L. Narasimhan
  65. Committee on Payment Systems: Dr R H Patil
  66. Review Group on The Working of The Local Area Bank SchemeShri G.Ramachandran
  67. Technical Group on Statistics of International Trade in Services: Shri Deepak Mohanty
  68. Working Group for Suggesting Operational and Prudential Guidelines on STRIPS (Separately Traded Registered Interest and Principal of Securities): Shri M.R.Ramesh
  69. Working Group on Electronic Money: Mr.Zarir J. Cama
  70. Working Group on Economic Indicators Dr. R.B. Barman
  71. Working Group to Examine the Role of Credit Information Bureaus in Collection and Dissemination of Information on Suit-filed Accounts and Defaulters: Shri S.R. Iyer
  72. Information systems audit policy for the banking and financial sector: Dr. R.B.Burman
  73. Working Group on Consolidated Accounting and Other Quantitative Methods to Facilitate Consolidated Supervision: Shri Vipin Malik
  74. Expert Committee to Review the System of Administered Interest Rates and Other Related Issues: Dr.Y.V. Reddy
  75. Inter-Departmental Group to study the Rationalisation of Current account Facility with Reserve Bank of India: Shri K.W. Korgaonkar
  76. The Expert Committee on Legal Aspects of Bank Frauds: Dr.N.L. Mitra
  77. The Standing Committee on International Financial Standards and Codes
      Standing Committee on International Financial Standards and Codes: Dr. Y.V.Reddy
  78. Technical Group on Market Integrity: Shri C.R. Muralidharan
  79. Technical Group on Phasing Out of Non-banks from Call/Notice Money Market (March 2001): Dr.Y.V.Reddy
  80. Core Group on Voluntary Disclosure Norms for State Governments: Dr.Y.V.Reddy
  81. Task Force to Study the Cooperative Credit System and Suggest Measures for its Strengthening: Shri Jagdish Kapoor
  82. Internal Group to Review the Guidelines Relating to Commercial Paper: Dr.Y.V.Reddy
  83. High Power Committee on Urban Cooperative Banks: Shri Madhav Rao
  84. Working Group for setting up Credit Information Bureau in India: Shri N.H.Siddiqui
  85. Committee for Redesigning of Financial Statements of Non-Banking Financial Companies: Shri V.S.N. Murthy
  86. Working Group on Restructuring Weak Public Sector Banks: Shri M.S.Verma
      Working Group for Working Out Modalities on Dissemination of Information in Electronic Form: Shri Y.S.P. Thorat and Shri C.R. Gopalasundaram
  87. Committee on Technology Upgradation in the Banking Sector: Dr A.Vasudevan ]
  88. Working Group of EURO: Shri V.Subrahmanyam
  89. New Monetary Aggregates: Dr. Y.V. Reddy
  90. Committee on Capital Account Convertibility: Shri S.S.Tarapore