Current Affairs 22nd and 23rd October 2015

Current Affairs 22nd-23rd October 2015 - Important Points

• Indian ace shuttler Saina Nehwal lost World No. 1 ranking to - Carolina Marin (Spain)

• Labh Janjua passed away, he was a - Bollywood singer

• Direction on implementation of Gold Monetisation Scheme 2015 was issued by - RBI

• Which country will be having permanently stationed military unit in the Arctic by 2018 - Russia

• First batch of AMRUT projects for 89 cities cleared by Govt, how much it worth - 2786 crore rupees

• Foundation stone of Shri Venkateswara Mobile & Electronics Manufacturing Hub was laid by - PM Narendra Modi

• Where were new species of Giant Tortoise named Chelonoidis donfaustoi identified - Galapagos Islands

• Name of country with which Britain signed Strategic Investment Agreements for building three nuclear plants - China

• Who was appointed as first male member of NCW - Alok Rawat

• Ashwini Kumar passed away, he was - IOC honorary member

• Where were frist World Indigenous Games began - Brazil

• Who was honoured with 2015 Confucius Peace Prize - Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe

Current Affairs 22nd-23rd October 2015 - Details

Indian ace shuttler Saina Nehwal lost World No. 1 ranking to - Carolina Marin (Spain)

On 22nd October 2015, Ace Indian shuttler Saina Nehwal lost her World No.1 ranking to All England and World champion Carolina Marin of Spain as per latest Badminton World Federation rankings. Saina Nehwal having total 81882 points and stands on second spot. She is behind 1630 points from Marin in women singles.

Labh Janjua passed away, he was a - Bollywood singer

Renowned singer and songwriter Labh Janjua was found dead on 22nd October 2015. He was 56 years old.

He was from Punjab and there was a touch of punjabi music in his songs. His most famous songs are Akshay Kumar's Singh is Kinng, Dance Pe Chance from Rabb Ne Mila Di Jodi, Soni De Nakhre from Partner and London Thumka from Queen.

Direction on implementation of Gold Monetisation Scheme 2015 was issued by - RBI

On 22nd October 2015, Reserve Bank of India (RBI) issued a Direction to all Scheduled Commercial Banks on implementation of the Gold Monetisation Scheme, 2015 notified by the Union Government. It exludes Regional Rural Banks. 

The RBI issued the direction to banks in exercise of powers conferred on it under Section 35A of the Banking Regulation Act, 1949.

The GMS 2015 will replace the existing Gold Deposit Scheme, 1999. 

Following are important points about new guidelines : 

• The deposits outstanding under the Gold Deposit Scheme will be allowed to run till maturity unless the depositors prematurely withdraw them.
• Resident Indians (Individuals, HUF, Trusts including Mutual Funds/Exchange Traded Funds registered under SEBI (Mutual Fund) Regulations and Companies) can make deposits under the scheme.
• The minimum deposit at any one time shall be raw gold (bars, coins, jewellery excluding stones and other metals) equivalent to 30 grams of gold of 995 fineness. 
• There is no maximum limit for deposit under the scheme. 
• The gold will be accepted at the Collection and Purity Testing Centres (CPTC) certified by Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) and notified by the Central Government under the Scheme. 
• The deposit certificates will be issued by banks in equivalence of 995 fineness of gold.
• The principal and interest of the deposit under the scheme will be denominated in gold.
• The designated banks will accept gold deposits under the Short Term (1-3 years) Bank Deposit (STBD) as well as Medium (5-7 years) and Long (12-15 years) Term Government Deposit Schemes. While, STBD will be accepted by banks on their own account, but the latter will be on behalf of Union Government.
• There will be provision for premature withdrawal subject to a minimum lock-in period and penalty to be determined by individual banks.
• Interest on deposits will start accruing from the date of conversion of gold deposited into tradable gold bars after refinement or 30 days after the receipt of gold at the CPTC or the bank’s designated branch.
• During the period from the date of receipt of gold by the CPTC or the designated branch to the date on which interest starts accruing, the gold accepted shall be treated as an item in safe custody held by the designated bank.
• The short term bank deposits will attract applicable cash reserve ratio (CRR) and statutory liquidity ratio (SLR). However, the stock of gold held by the banks will count towards the general SLR requirement.
• The opening of gold deposit accounts will be subject to the same rules with regard to customer identification as are applicable to any other deposit account.

Which country will be having permanently stationed military unit in the Arctic by 2018 - Russia

Among Impotant International Current Affairs, On 22nd October 2015, Russia announced that it will be having its military unit permanently stationed in the Arctic by 2018.

The defence minister of Russia Sergey Shoygu also announced that Russia is building several new bases in the Arctic as well as rebuilding six Soviet-era air bases in the Arctic.

It was also declared that the nation already has practically finished building bases on the Novosibirsk Archipelago and on Kotelny Island. The nation relies on modern military technology to guard borders in the Arctic.

First batch of AMRUT projects for 89 cities cleared by Govt, how much it worth - 2786 crore rupees

On 22nd October 2015, Union Ministry of Urban Development gave its nod to the first batch of state level Action Plans under Atal Mission for Rejuvenation and Urban Transformation (AMRUT). The approved Action Plans have a total of 143 projects in 89 AMRUT cities in Andhra Pradesh, Gujarat and Rajasthan.

The State Annual Action Plans (SAAP) worth 2786.28 crore rupees were cleared by inter-ministerial Apex Committee of AMRUT for 89 cities in the three states.

It is for the first time that the Urban Development Ministry approved state level plans unlike the past practice of appraising and approving individual projects.

Foundation stone of Shri Venkateswara Mobile & Electronics Manufacturing Hub was laid by - PM Narendra Modi

On 22nd October 2015, Prime Minister Narendra Modi laid foundation stone of Shri Venkateswara Mobile and Electronics Manufacturing Hub in Tirupati in Andhra Pradesh. The hub will be a dedicated mobile handset manufacturing facility.

Shri Venkateswara Mobile & Electronics Manufacturing Hub will create more than 10000 jobs within a year. The hub is expected to contribute at least 5 percent of all-India target of 15 lakh jobs by 2019.

Where were new species of Giant Tortoise named Chelonoidis donfaustoi identified - Galapagos Islands

On 21st October 2015, Team of Ecuadoran and international scientists have identified a new species of giant tortoise, named Chelonoidis donfaustoi on the Galapagos Islands in Pacific. The tortoise was named after a retired Galapagos park ranger.

The newly-identified species, also known as the Eastern Santa Cruz tortoise, lives on the eastern side of the Santa Cruz Island and was also found to be genetically different from tortoises on other islands.

Name of country with which Britain signed Strategic Investment Agreements for building three nuclear plants - China

On 21st October 2015, Chinese President Xi Jinping and British Prime Minister David Cameron signed Strategic Investment Agreements at a UK-China Business Summit at Mansion House in London during the official visit of Xi Jinping.

Under the agreement, China will help the UK in building three nuclear plants including Hinkley Point C nuclear plant, which will be the first since 1980s.

Who was appointed as first male member of NCW - Alok Rawat

On 21st October 2015, former Water Resources Secretary Alok Rawat was appointed as the first male member of the National Commission for Women (NCW). His appointment filled the fourth seat in the five-member body.

Alok Rawat is IAS officer of 1977 batch Sikkim cadre. He has previously worked as Director/Joint Secretary in Ministry of Defence and Ministry of Road Transport and Highways. He also served as the Secretary in UPSC and Secretary in Coordination and Public Grievances in the Cabinet Secretariat and Secretary in Ministry of Water Resources, River Development and Ganga Rejuvenation.

Do You Know : 

National Commission for Women (NCW) was set up in January 1992 under the National Commission for Women Act, 1990 (Act No. 20 of 1990 of GoI).

Ashwini Kumar passed away, he was - IOC honorary member

On 20th October 2015, Ashwini Kumar passed away. He was 94 years old and was International Olympic Committee (IOC) honorary member.

He served as IPS for a long duration. He was very famous for his sports administration skills and Contributions to Indian sports.

He played an active role in sport in India, particularly in hockey as President of the Indian Hockey Federation for 16 years, besides serving the International Hockey Federation (FIH) as the Vice-President for more than 15 years. 

He headed the Indian hockey delegation at the Olympic Games in 1964 and 1968.

He was the President of the Indian Basketball Federation and President of the Punjab Olympic Association for 12 years.

He served the Commonwealth Games Federation and the Asian Games Federation.

He was elected Life President of the Indian Olympic Association.  

Where were frist World Indigenous Games began - Brazil

On 23rd October 2015, First World Indigenous Games started in Brazil in the northern Brazilian city of Palmas. These games will be there till 31st October 2015.

The games are a multi-sport event involving indigenous athletes has around 2000 athletes participating from many indigenous ethnic groups and 30 countries like Ethiopia, Mongolia, Brazil, Australia, Russia, the Philippines, Ethiopia and New Zealand.

The participants on 22 October 2015 took part in a traditional fire lighting ceremony in Palmas's central square and danced at the ceremony in traditional outfits.

Sports included in the games are archery, spear tossing, canoeing and a race through the forest. 

Who was honoured with 2015 Confucius Peace Prize - Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe

On 22nd October 2015, Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe was awarded with Confucius Peace Prize 2015. He was awarded by China for supposedly injecting fresh energy into the global quest for harmony. 

He was awarded for overcoming a number of difficulties and for contributing to building the government, economy and order in the country while continuing to work at the age of 91 actively for African peace.

Mugabe is the founding leader of Zimbabwe and has ruled the country since it gained independence in 1980 from United Kingdom. He was elected as Prime Minister in 1980 and served in that office till 1987. He became Zimbabwe’s first President in December 1987 and since then he is serving in the office.

Do You Know : 

This Prize is dubbed as Chinese equivalent of the Nobel Peace Prize.