GK Updates - 3 September

India to get USD 35 bn from Japan for infra projects
i. India will get USD 35 bn from Japan over the next five years for developmental projects, including building of smart cities and next generation infrastructure as also cleaning of the Ganga, as Premier Shinzo Abe on Monday pledged to partner PM Narendra Modi's ambitious vision of inclusive development.
ii. The two sides also signed five pacts covering defence exchanges, cooperation in clean energy, roads and highways, healthcare and women while vowing to take their relationship to newer level.
iii. Abe expressed his intention to realise 3.5 trillion Yen (Rs 2,10,000 crore, USD 35 billion) of public and private investment and financing from Japan, including Overseas Development Assistance (ODA), to India in five years, it said.
iv. The USD 35 billion funding, at an average of USD 7 billion per year, would be the highest from any country and Modi expressed gratitude to Abe for this.
v. The two Prime Ministers welcomed the signing of the document to promote partnership city arrangement between the ancient cities of Varanasi and Kyoto.

Japan to work with India in finding sickle cell anaemia remedy
i. Japan on Sunday agreed to work with India in developing a treatment for the sickle cell anaemia after Prime Minister Narendra Modi sought help for finding remedy to the deadly disease commonly found among tribals in India.
ii. Modi, who has been keenly looking for a remedy to the disease since his days as Chief Minister of Gujarat, discussed the issue with Nobel Prize winner for Medicine (2012) S Yamanaka when he visited the Kyoto University.
iii. Yamanaka is also the Director of the University. The Prime Minister, on the second day of his tour, raised the issue during his visit to the Stem Cell Research facility and discussed whether Japan could be of help in this regard.

RBI issues amendments to Basel 3 norms
i. The Reserve Bank of India has allowed banks to issue additional Tier 1 capital instruments, the principal amount of which would absorb losses, either through conversion into common shares or a write-down mechanism that allocates the losses to the instruments, either temporarily or permanently.
ii. Unveiling a slew of amendments in the implementation of the Basel 3 regulations, the RBI said that banks must have a provision of Point of Non-Viability (PONV) for every non-equity instrument which, when triggered, would lead to a conversion to common shares (of the bank) or a permanent write-off.
iii. The regulator has reduced the minimum tenor after which call options are permissible in perpetual debt instruments from 10 to five years.
iv. The minimum maturity of Tier 2 debt instruments has also been reduced from 10 to five years.

United Bank of India declared Vijay Mallya as wilful defaulter
i. United Bank of India on 1 September 2014 declared debt-ridden Kingfisher Airlines and its owner Vijay Mallya as wilful defaulters. Three Kingfisher Airlines Ltd directors A.K. Ganguly, Subhash Gupte and Ravi Nedungadi were also declared as wilful defaulters.
ii. This declaration would cut off further bank finance for UB Group companies by empowering banks to change course for managing firms who fail to pay. Banks will now initiate criminal proceedings against Mallya and force him to quit company boards.

Impact of wilful defaulter tag on Vijay Mallya's position
i. Mallya may have to quit as non-executive chairman of United Spirits Ltd. in which a British company Diageo Plc holds nearly 55 percent of the shares.
ii. Mallya will have to step down as Mangalore Chemicals chairman. On 22 April 2014, Pune-based Deepak Fertilisers and Petrochemicals Corp. Ltd launched a bid for Mangalore Chemicals.

Wilful Default
i. A wilful default occurs when either a borrower has not repaid when he can do so, or when sanctioned funds have been used for other purposes or when the borrower disposes off the assets assured for availing of the loan without the bank’s knowledge.

ii. According to the guidelines of Reserve Bank of India (RBI), once a wilful defaulter notice is issued, the borrower has 15 days to defend himself in front of the bank. The wilful defaulter tag gives surety that the borrower and any firm on the board of which he is a director will not get a loan from any financial institution in future.
iii. The tag wilful defaulter entails serious consequences including penal consequences. Thus, Kingfisher Airlines (KFA) and Vijay Mallya were deprived of an opportunity to be represented by a trained legal professional.

Congress members to head 5 Parliamentary Standing Committees
i. Congress has secured chairmanship of five Parliamentary Standing Committees after failing to get the Leader of the Opposition post in the Lok Sabha.
ii. Its members M. Veerappa Moily, Shashi Tharoor and P. Bhattacharya will now head the important committees on Finance, External Affairs and Home respectively.
iii. The main Opposition party has also got chairmanship of standing committees for Science and Technology and Law and Personnel. While the former will be headed by ex-Law Minister Ashwani Kumar, the latter has E.M. Sudarsana Natchiappan as its chairman.
iv. Congress leader K.V. Thomas has already got the chairmanship of the prestigious Public Accounts Committee.
v. Rahul Gandhi is a member of the Committee on External Affairs, while Congress president Sonia Gandhi does not figure in any of the panels announced. In the last Lok Sabha, Ms. Gandhi had been a member of the Committee on HRD and Sports.

Renowned Kathak dancer Maya Rao died
i. Veteran Kathak dancer Maya Rao died on 1 September 2014 following a massive cardiac arrest on 31 August 2014. She was 86.
ii. Known for her mastery over abhinaya and dance ballet, Maya Rao helped the dance form Kathak to gain popularity in South India.

Maya Rao
• Born in 1928 in Bangalore, Maya Rao practised the Lucknow and Jaipur gharana of Kathak from Shambhu Maharaj and Sunder Prasad.
• She studied Masters in Choreography from the USSR in 1964.
• Maya’s ground-breaking work in choreography helped thousands of dancers in learning the composition and arrangement of dances.
• She trained over 4000 students across the globe in about eight decades of her career.

Carolina Marin became the first Spaniard to win World Badminton Championship
i. Carolina Marin on 31 August 2014 became the first Spaniard to win World Badminton Championship. The World Badminton Championship was held in Copenhagen, Denmark.
ii. Carolina won women’s singles titles by defeating world number one Li Xuerui of china. China’s Chen Long won the men’s singles titles of the World Badminton Championships.

Oldest surviving Test cricketer Gordon passes away
i. South African fast bowler Norman Gordon, oldest surviving Test cricketer at 103 years old, passed away after a year long illness due to renal complications. Gordon played five Tests against England back in 1939 taking 20 wickets in all before World War cut short his international career.
ii. He was best known for being one of the 22 players, who took part in the epic 'Timeless Test' between England and South Africa that was held between March 3-14, 1939 in Durban.

India among top three medical tourism destinations in Asia
i. A study by KPMG-FICCI says India ranks among the top three medical tourism destinations in Asia.
ii. This is mainly due to the low cost of treatment, quality health care infrastructure and availability of highly-skilled doctors.
iii. The report titled Medical Value Travel in India pointed out that Asian countries have introduced various marketing strategies to attract medical tourists.
iv. In the past few years, Asia has taken the lead as one of the most preferred destination for medical value travel.
v. The report added that India is known mostly for its cost-effective medical treatments along with high standards in cardiology, orthopaedics, nephrology, oncology and neuro surgery.
vi. The country is also known for its alternative treatment options such as yoga and ayurveda.

India becomes No 1 in ICC ODI rankings
i. Their dominating performance against England coupled with Australia’s shock loss to Zimbabwe on Monday made India the sole number one team in the latest ICC ODI rankings issued here.
ii. “World champion India have been confirmed as the number-one ranked side in the Reliance ICC ODI Team Rankings following Zimbabwe’s three wickets victory over Australia in a triangular series match in Harare on Sunday,” the ICC said in a statement.
iii. India had joined Australia on top of the table after winning the third ODI in Nottingham at 114 ratings points, but took sole possession at the coveted number-one spot after Zimbabwe recorded their first victory over Australia in 31 years.
iv. This result meant Australia have dropped three ratings points and slipped behind South Africa and Sri Lanka into fourth position on 111 ratings points.

Justice HL Dattu to be Next Chief Justice of India
i. Justice HL Dattu is all set to be the next Chief Justice of India. The government moved with great speed earlier this week to clear his appointment.
ii. CJI RM Lodha retires on the 27th of this month after which Justice Dattu will have a tenure of more than a year till December 2015.
iii. Justice Dattu joined the apex court as a judge in 2008. Born on December 13, 1950, he enrolled as an advocate in 1975 and began practising in Bangalore.
iv. He dealt in all types of matters, be it civil, criminal, tax or even Constitutional cases. From 1983 onwards he appeared in various capacities before the Karnataka High Court including as government pleader for sales tax department, standing counsel for Income Tax department and later as government advocate.
v. After two CJIs retiring in one year, Justice Dattu's will be a relatively extended tenure. While Justice Sathasivam - now tipped to be appointed as a Governor - retired in April this year, CJI Lodha will be the second top judge hanging his boots.

Former Attorney General of India Goolam Essaji Vahanvati died
i. Former Attorney General of India Goolam Essaji Vahanvati died of a heart attack in Mumbai on 2 September 2014. He was 65.
ii. He was the first Muslim to become India's Attorney General.

Goolam Essaji Vahanvati
•    Born on 7 May 1949, Goolam Essaji Vahanvati obtained a law degree from Government Law College in Mumbai after graduating from St Xavier’s College.
•    He began his practice as an advocate in his father’s chambers in 1972.
•    He became the advocate general of Maharashtra in 1999.
•    He served as the solicitor general of India from 2004 to 2009.
•    In 2004, he was appointed by the International Cricket Council to probe the allegations of racism in Zimbabwe.
•    He became India's 13th Attorney General in 2009 under UPA-2 regime

India slips to 71st rank in global competitiveness list
i. India has slipped to 71st position, in an annual global competitiveness list, where Switzerland remains on top.
ii. As per the list, released by the Geneva-based World Economic Forum, India comes the lowest among BRICS countries.
iii. The Global Competitiveness Report 2014-15, says Switzerland is the most competitive economy, followed by Singapore and United States.
iii. China, which has improved its position by one place to 28th spot, leads the BRICS grouping.

TCS re-appoints N Chandrasekaran as CEO
i. India’s largest software services firm Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) on Wednesday said the tenure of its Chief Executive Officer and MD N Chandrasekaran has been extended by five years to October 2019.
ii. Chandrasekaran, who was appointed CEO and MD for five years on October 6, 2009, has been re-appointed for another five years, TCS said in a statement.

RBI curbs banking operations of Choundeshwari Sahakari Bank
i. The RBI has issued directions to The Choundeshwari Sahakari Bank Ltd of Kolhapur, Maharashtra that will require the bank to seek prior approval for its banking business.
ii. “In particular, depositors of the bank will be able to withdraw a sum not exceeding Rs. 1,000/- (Rupees one thousand only) of the total balance held in every savings bank or current account or any other deposit account by whatever name called, subject to the conditions stipulated in the RBI Directions,” RBI said in a statement.
iii. As per the directions a copy of which is displayed on the bank's premises for perusal by interested members of the public, the bank, from the close of business on August 30, 2014, cannot, without prior approval in writing from the RBI
i) grant or renew any loans and advances,
ii) make any investment, incur any liability including borrowal of funds and acceptance of fresh deposits,
iii) disburse or agree to disburse any payment whether in discharge of its liabilities and obligations or otherwise, iv) enter into any compromise or arrangement and sell, transfer or otherwise dispose of any of its properties or assets except as notified in the RBI Directions dated August 28, 2014.
v. The bank will continue to undertake banking business with restrictions till its financial position improves.

Vinod Mehta selected for G K Reddy Memorial Award 2014
i. Vinod Mehta, eminent journalist and Editorial Chairman of Outlook group, was selected for G K Reddy Memorial Award 2014. The award was announced by the TSR Foundation on 2 September 2014 and the award will be presented in New Delhi in December 2014.
ii. He was selected for this award for his outstanding contribution in the field of Journalism. He is one the popular editors in India, who launched successful publications including The Sunday Observer, The Independent and The Pioneer. He also authored the biographies of actress Meena Kumari and politician Sanjay Gandhi.

Former Foreign Secretary A.P. Venkateswaran died
i. Former foreign secretary and a member of the Indian Foreign Service AP Venkateshwaran died on 2 September 2014. He was 84.
ii. He is survived by wife Usha Venkateshwaran and daughter Kalpana who is a well-known choreographer settled in the US.

Israel to take over West Bank land
i. Israel on 31 August 2014 announced to take over West Bank land. The area will be named as Gevaot.
ii. The land portion is located south of Bethlehem. The seizure of the land is said to be the largest seizure by Israel in last 30 years.
iii. Israel will expropriate 4 sq km (1.5 sq miles) of Palestinian land in the occupied West Bank. Israel Government planned to build on the land, while Palestinian officials claimed that the land include many olive groves.
iv. The move was a response to the kidnapping and killing of three Jewish teenagers in the area in June 2014.

BCCI signs five-year agreement with MRF Pace Foundation
i. The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) will send pace bowlers to the MRF Pace Foundation in Chennai for training. Both signed a five-year agreement in this regard today.
ii. Glenn McGrath, director of the foundation and former Australian pace bowler, will train the players. McGrath who played for Australia for 14 years was himself trained in the foundation under Dennis Lillee in 1992. For a fast bowler, skill, fitness and attitude are important said McGrath.

Note: The BCCI will divide some of the India’s best and upcoming pace bowlers into two categories – Elite and Probables. Elite will include those selected by the BCCI to play official matches. There will be a maximum of ten trainees in each camp of two weeks.

US Open: Sania Mirza-Cara Black in semi final
i. Sania Mirza and her Zimbabwean partner Cara Black reached the Semi Final of Women's Doubles of the US open Tennis Tournament.
ii. Third seed Indo-Zimbabwean pair had an easy day out as Kazakh- Chinese pair of Zarina Diyas and Yi-Fan Xu retired from the match at score 1-6, 0-1.
iii. In the Mixed Doubles semi final event to be played later in the evening, Sania Mirza and her Mixed Double Brazilian partner Bruno Soares will take on Yung-Jan Chan from Chinese Taipei and Brit Ross Hutchins.

India win 4th ODI against England, clinch series; Rahane hits maiden ton
i. India defeated England by 9 wickets in the penultimate ODI at Birmingham last night, to claim the 5-match series.
ii. It was India's third successive victory after the first one dayer was abandoned due to rain without a ball being bowled. The victory has also made Mahendra Singh Dhoni India's most successful ODI captain.
iii. With 91 wins from 162 matches, Dhoni surpassed Mohammed Azharuddin who had led India to triumph 90 times in 174 games.