Current Affairs - 31 March 2015

Over 6,000 HP government employees to retire today

• 

  SHIMLA: For the first time in the history of Himachal Pradesh, over 6,000 government employees would retire together on Tuesday. This follows after the state government refused to give service extension to employees from March 31 onwards. The state government would have to spend around Rs 700 crore to pay arrears and other retirement benefits of these employees.
  
  According to sources, majority of the employees would retire from the state education department, numbering around 2,500, including two directors and other senior officials. Around 41 employees and officers of the state secretariat too are retiring on Tuesday. Sources said that PWD, irrigation and public health department and Himachal Pradesh State Electricity Board Limited too would witness around 3,500 of its employees retiring while Himachal Pradesh University will also say goodbye to a large number of its employees on Tuesday.
  
  Sources said that due to the service extension policy of the state government, employees deprived of promotional benefits would not retire on Tuesday. Sources said that around 350 employees would retire on April 16 after getting due promotions. Sources added that employees appointed under the reemployment scheme too would not retire on Tuesday.
  
  The decision of the government not to extend the services of retired employees from March 31 onwards has left many stunned as majority of employees had not prepared their retirement documents as they were expecting extension in their service. Some of the employees said it would have been better had the government given them a month's time.
  
  In Himachal Pradesh retirement age of government employees is 58 years but last year the state government had mooted a policy of voluntary extension of one year in service. Sources said that implementation of recommendations made by the 14th Finance Commission has boosted the financial condition of the state and around Rs 8,000 crore financial assistance is expected from the Centre in one go, after which government has taken the decision of not to extend services of retiring employees.

Income Tax deparment publishes names of big tax defaulters

• 

  The Income Tax department took to the strategy of 'naming and shaming' of some large tax defaulters as it published names of 18 entities who owe over Rs 500 crore tax to the exchequer.

  "The step is aimed to publicise and put these names in public domain so that the common man can come forward to help the department in knowing the whereabouts of these.The step is to enhance public awareness against these entities who are acting against law. These names were earlier were put up the department's website earlier," a senior I-T officer said.

  Newspapers today carried the names of the tax defaulters and the data published was quoted to have been published by the Principal Chief Commissioner of Income Tax (Administration) based in the national capital here.

  Adopting an aggressive approach, government had for the first time gone public with names of 18 tax defaulters, including Goldsukh Trade and Somani Cements which, according to I-T, have turned wilful defaulters.

  In a bid to force them these entities paying their dues, the Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) had asked the I-T department to post on its website, few days back, the names of 18 defaulters, of whom 11 are based in Gujarat.

  "Defaulters are advised to pay tax arrears immediately," said the notice.

  "This is the first time the department has put in public domain a list of those wilful tax defaulters who have a tax liability of Rs 10 crore and above," a senior tax official had said, adding that in many cases the assessees were not "traceable".

  "The department, in the public notice, has provided the PAN number and the last known address of these defaulters for the public to know," the official added. 

  The official said periodically the department has been proposing "naming and shaming" of wilful defaulters and the step has now been taken on the last day of the current financial year today.

  The companies in the list include Somani Cement with tax arrears of Rs 27.47 crore, Blue Information Technology (Rs 75.11 cr), Appletech Solutions (Rs 27.07 cr), Jupiter Business (Rs 21.31 cr) and Hirak Biotech (Rs 18.54 cr).

  The other Gujarat-based companies which figured in the defaulters list include Icon Bio Pharma & Healthcare Ltd (Rs 17.69 cr), Banyan & Berry Alloys (Rs 17.48 cr), Laxminarayan T Thakkar (Rs 12.49 cr), Virag Dyeing &

  Printing (Rs 18.57 cr), Poonam Industries (Rs 15.84 cr), Kunvar Ajay Food Pvt Ltd (Rs 15 cr).

  Besides, names of Jaipur-based Goldsukh Trade India (Rs 75.47 cr), Kolkata-based Victor Credit & Construction (Rs 13. 81 cr), Mumbai-based Noble Merchandise (Rs 11.93 cr) are also there in the list.

  The list also includes the legal heir of Pune-based G K Dharne involving a tax default of Rs 38.31 crore.

Sunderbans sea level to rise 3-8 mm per year: World Bank report

• 

  BALI ISLAND (Sunderbans): The water level in the Sunderbans, the world's largest mangrove forest, is rising at an "alarming" level, endangering the habitation, a World Bank report has suggested. 
  
  The report stated that the sea level could witness an estimated 3 to 8 mm rise per year and mainly attributed it to land subsidence caused by various natural and anthropogenic processes. 
  
  The report, titled "Building Resilience for Sustainable Development of the Sunderbans - Strategy Report" said, "Parts of the coast in the south were rising because of uplift whichillustrates that impacts were not homogeneous and differ according to varying geological processes." 
  
  The World Bank report said that seismic events, such as the 2004 tsunami and the aftershocks, could also shift land levels by a meter more over a period of few days. 
  
  "But most change is gradual and a frequent response is simple inundation and loss of land. The Ghoramara Island (part of Sagar block in Sunderbans) will be completely submerged in the coming decades and the Island is largely uninhabitable. Two nearby islands are totally submerged at high tide," the report stated. 
  
  Senior consultant with the World Bank Sanjay Gupta told PTI that the situation in the Sunderbans was alarming and called for immediate and concrete steps to tackle it.
  
  Gupta pointed out that the subsidence and inundation also led to routine flooding which contributes to salinization of the soil and fresh water resources. 
  
  The report pointed out that flooding from storm surges remained a significant hazard even when embankments were present, as natural disasters were capable of wiping out embankments. 
  
  "Given the relatively flat landscape, hazard mapping suggests that a 45 cm rise in the sea level would destroy 75 per cent of the Indian and Bangladeshi Sunderbans," it stated. 
  
  While talking about the impact of sea level rise on mangrove forests, the report stated that the changing estuary dynamics had reduced the transport mechanism for wild mangrove propagules (Seeds). 
  
  The report stated that management of estuaries could be the key to tackle the impact of sea level rise in the Sunderbans.

IAEA reviews the nuclear regulatory infrastructure of India

• A twelve day long International Regulatory Review Service (IRRS) Mission of International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) to review the Indian’s regulatory framework for nuclear safety was concluded. The IRRS Team has concluded that the Indian nuclear regulatory body, the Atomic Energy Regulatory Board (AERB) is an experienced, knowledgeable and dedicated regulatory body for the protection of the public and environment.
  
  The IRRS peer review mission for India took place from March 16-27, 2015 at the request of the Government of India. The Mission looked at the regulatory framework of Atomic Energy Regulatory Board (AERB) for Nuclear Power Plants and Projects.
  
  The IRRS mission, coordinated by the IAEA, was led by Mr Ramzi Jammal, Executive Vice-President and Chief Regulatory Officer of the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission (CNSC). The team comprised 16 experts from the nuclear regulatory bodies of Bulgaria, Canada, Czech Republic, Finland, Hungry, Israel, Netherland, United Kingdom, United Sates of America, and the IAEA itself. The peer review was carried out by comparison against IAEA safety standards as the international benchmark for safety. The Mission was preceded by an extensive self-assessment exercise by AERB extending over a year. The Mission provided AERB with an opportunity for a quality exchange of information with international regulatory experts and further enhance the regulatory framework and processes in India.
  
  The mission commenced with an entry meeting of IRRS team with the officials of AERB, Bhabha Atomic Research Centre (BARC) and Department of Atomic Energy (DAE) on March 16, 2015. Over the next two weeks, the Mission went about information gathering, review and verification through interactions with the officials and senior management of AERB as well as examination of documents. The Mission also interacted with the Chiefs of Atomic Energy Commission, BARC and the Nuclear Power Corporation of India Limited.  A few team Members witnessed AERB’s regulatory inspection activities to Kakrapar Atomic Power Station to evaluate the inspection practices of AERB.
  
  The IRRS team acknowledged that AERB continues to enhance its regulatory programme to face the current and future challenges in regulatory nuclear safety, such as reinforcing the safety of existing nuclear facilities, monitoring ageing and decommissioning, as well as providing oversight of the construction, commissioning and operation of new nuclear power plants.
  
  The team identified several good practices related to competence of the personnel, the recruitment and training of personnel, operating experiencing feedback, research and development infrastructure related to regulatory activities and the use of systematic database for tracking the recommendations from emergency exercises.
  
  The team identified a few areas of the Indian nuclear safety regulatory framework in need of improvement, including the following:
  
  ·        Promulgation of the established policies and strategy for safety and the strategies for  radioactive waste management as statements of the government’s intent.
  
  ·        Embedding in law the regulatory independence of AERB.
  
  ·        Review of implementation of policy and arrangements to ensure maintenance of  independence in the performance of regulatory functions.
  
  ·        Enhancing then frequency of routine on-site inspections at NPPs to allow for additional independent verification and
  
  ·        Development and implementation of its own internal emergency arrangements including detailed procedures to fulfil its roles related to emergency response.
  
  Some of these recommendations/suggestions relate to formalizing the good practices into formal written down procedures and to strengthen internal management processes. AERB has accepted these as an opportunity to further enhance the regulatory framework and processes and development of a detailed action plan by AERB is underway to address the same.
  
  The final report of the mission will be submitted by IAEA to the Government of India in about three months.

Babri Masjid demolition: BJP brass meets to review conspiracy case

• NEW DELHI: Extensive consultations are on at the highest level in BJP regarding the approach to take in the 22-year-old conspiracy case filed following the demolition of the Babri Masjid. CBI's Special Leave Petition challenging the Allahabad High Court's May 20, 2010, judgment discharging top BJP and Sangh Parivar leaders of conspiracy charges will come up for hearing on Tuesday. 
  
  As per top BJP sources, party chief Amit Shah and senior leader Arun Jaitley have been meeting the key accused, including LK Advani and MM Joshi, over the last few days to discuss a way forward. The issue is believed to have come up for discussion during Shah's meeting with RSS' top brass, Mohan Bhagwat and Bhaiyyaji Joshi, in Nagpur on March 6. Other prominent people accused in the case are Kalyan Singh, Uma Bharati, Sadhvi Rithambara, Vinay Katiyar and Ashok Singhal. 
  
  Another SLP admitted in the Supreme Court, to be heard along with the CBI case on Tuesday, expresses apprehension about CBI's neutrality in view of the BJP government at Centre. The SLP has been filed by Faizabad resident HM Ahmad, involved with the Ramjanmabhoomi dispute case for 45 years. 
  
  "Due to this complete change in political scenario the entire litigation policy of the central government and various statutory authorities have seen substantial change in their stand and attitude. Accordingly, there are reliable reports going around that in SLP (Criminal) No.2275 of 2011, CBI may not seriously press the said petition in its true intent and spirit to uphold the rule of law," the petitioner says in SLP. 
  
  "One accused of the said criminal trial is a Cabinet minister (Uma Bharati) and the leader against whom there is a charge of serious omission (for not taking appropriate action for curing the defect in notification dated 8.10.1993), Shri Rajnath Singh, is occupying very high position in the Union Council of Ministers. One other accused is governor of a State (Kalyan Singh)," the petitioner adds. 
  
  The case to be heard in SC pertains to the SLP filed by CBI on February 9, 2011, against the discharge by Allahabad court of 21 accused from conspiracy charges in the demolition of Babri Masjid. While a HC judgement had come on May 20, 2010, CBI had filed its appeal after eight months delay.

Round-the-world solar plane leaves Myanmar for China

• 

  The Solar Impulse (Si2), the solar-powered aircraft on a mission to fly around the globe without a drop of fuel, left Mandalay in Myanmar for China on Sunday on the fifth leg of its journey.
  
  The aircraft, piloted by the Swiss project chairman Bertrand Piccard, left Mandalay at 3.36 a.m. on Sunday, and is heading for Chongqing in China, according to a BBC report.
  Leg five of the aircraft will be a long one -- about 1,375 km -- and is expected to take roughly 19 hours.
  
  It will see the Si2 landing around midnight at the Chongqing Jiangbei International Airport.
  
  The plan of the project team is to make a brief stop in Chongqing, and then try to reach Nanjing on the east coast of China.
  
  This would set up the Si2 for the first of its big ocean crossings -- a five-day, five-night flight to Hawaii.
  
  Capable of flying over oceans for several days and nights in a row, the single-seater Si2, which started its journey from Abu Dhabi in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) on March 9, will travel 35,000 km around the world in 25 days.
  
  Mission control will not make a decision on the Nanjing leg until late on Monday.
  The decision may rest on the state of the energy reserves held in the plane's batteries.
  China's air traffic authorities would like the aircraft to start its sixth leg before dawn. However, if the reserves are marginal then the Si2 will be held in Chongqing until the batteries can be charged.
  
  The problem with this scenario was that poor weather had been forecast in the Chongqing region in the coming days, and if the aircraft did not leave straightaway, it could be delayed for perhaps a week, reports said.
  
  The project team expects the circumnavigation of the globe to be completed in a total of 12 legs, with a return to the UAE in a few months' time.
  
  In the past month, the Si2 set two world records for manned solar-powered flight.
  The first was for the longest distance covered on a single journey -- that of 1,468 km between Muscat in Oman and Ahmedabad in India.
  
  The second was for a groundspeed of 117 knots (216 kmph), which was achieved during the flight from Varanasi in India to Mandalay.
  
  The wingspan of the aircraft is 72 metres, which exceeds that of a 747 jumbo jet airliner. It, however, weighs only 2.3 tonnes, which is equivalent to that of a small car.
  The light weight of the Si2 will be critical to its success over the coming months.
  So too will the performance of the 17,000 solar cells that line the top of the aircraft's wings, and the energy-dense lithium-ion batteries that it will use to sustain night-time flying.
  
  No solar-powered plane has ever flown around the world.
  
  The Si2 venture is reminiscent of other great circumnavigation feats in the history of aviation, albeit fuelled ones.
  
  In 1986, the Voyager aircraft became the first to fly around the world without stopping or refuelling. The propeller-driven vehicle took nine days to complete its journey.
  
  Then, in 2005, the time set by Voyager was beaten by the Virgin Atlantic GlobalFlyer, a jet-powered plane, which completed its non-stop circumnavigation in just under three days.
  
  The Si2 project aims to demonstrate the promise of clean energy.

Banking Awareness for SBI Bank Clerk Exam

• 1. Who is the president of World Bank?

  A. Ban Ki-Moon
  B. Evan Wiliams.
  C. Jim Yong Kim.
  D. Tim Cook

• 2. Who is the CEO of IMF- International Monetory Fund?

  A. Christine Lagarde.
  B. Vishal Sikka.
  C. John Birkin.
  D. Jim Yong Kim

• 3. State Bank of India founded in-

  
  
  A. 1955
  B. 1967
  C. 1960
  D. 1975

• 4. How many SBI- State Bank of India Associate banks are there?

  A. 1
  B. 9
  C. 5
  D. 10

• 5. How many foreign offices of SBI- State Bank of India are there?

  A. 100
  B. 1000
  C. 190
  D. 1900

• 6. What is/are the main functions of RBI?

  (i). Notes Issuance.
  (ii). Government's Bankar.
  (iii). Bankar's Bank.
  (iv). Bank's Supervision.
     A. Only (i)
     B. Both (ii) and (iii)
     C. Both (iii) and (iv)
     D. All of these.

• 7. In India, Micro finance development and Equity fund is maintained by-

     A. Small industries development Bank of India(SIDBI).
     B. RBI(Reserve bank of India).
     C. Nabard(National bank for Agriculture and rural development).
     D. CII(Confederation of industries in India).

• 8. Which are the following rates are decided by the RBI is called "Policy Rate"?

     A. Cash reserve ratio.
     B. Lending rate.
     C. Bank rate.
     D. Deposite rate

• 9. As per newspaper report,one of the major public sector banks sold out its RS> 500 Cr. loan to IIFCL. This type of buying and selling of loans in banking sector is popularly known as,

     A. Teaser rate financing.
     B. Take out financing.
     C. Infrastructure financing.
     D. Development financing.

• 10. 'kfw' group released another instalment of its financial aid to India.'kfw' is an organisation/bank base in;

     A. France.
     B. Japan.
     C. Germany.
     D. China.

• 11. Retail Banking refers to the dealing of commercial banks with individual customers on,

  i) Liabilities.
  ii) Assets.
     A. only i.
     B. only ii.
     C. both i and ii.
     D. None of these.

• 12. Wholesale banking is also called,

  i)Corporate banking.
  ii)Commercial banking
     A. only i.
     B. only ii.
     C. both i and ii.
     D. None of these.

• 13. With respect to wholesale banking,'term landing' is a,

  i)Fund based services.
  ii)Non-fund based services.
     A. only i.
     B. only ii.
     C. both i and ii.
     D. None of these.

• 14. In banking the term DTL refers to;

     A. Detail time limit.
     B. Demand and time limit.
     C. Demand and time liabilities.
     D. None of these.

• 15. Cash reserve ratio(CRR) refers to,

     A. Cash that all banks are require to maintain with RBI.
     B. Certain percentage of DTL of all banks.
     C. Both a & b.
     D. None of these.

• 16. Objective of SLR(Statutory Liquidity Ratio) is /are;

     A. To restrict expansion of bank credit.
     B. To increase banks investment in approved securities.
     C. To ensure solvency of banks.
     D. All of these.

• 17. Interest payable on savings bank accounts is-

     A. decided by banks without following any conditions by RBI.
     B. not regulated by RBI.
     C. regulated by central government.
     D. decided by banks following the guidelines of RBI

• 18. Which is/are the commodities on which subsidy is given to farmers or poor people in India?

     A. Fertilizer.
     B. Kerosene.
     C. LPG.
     D. All of these.

• 19. Financial inclusion or Inclusive financing means providing-

     A. food at low cost.
     B. financial services (Payments, remittances, savings, loans, insurance and etc.) at affordable cost to those disadvantaged and low-income parts/segments of the society, where these services are not affordable or available.
     C. only free financial education to poor people.
     D. None of these.

• 20. If the rate of inflation increases then the-

     A. purchasing power of money increases.
     B. purchasing power of money decreases.
     C. purchasing power of money remains uneffected.
     D. None of these.
• Answer:
  1)C, 2)A, 3)A, 4)C, 5)C, 6)D, 7)A, 8)A, 9)B, 10)C
  11)C, 12)C, 13)B, 14)C, 15)C, 16)D, 17)D, 18)D, 19)B, 20)B