Finance/Business/Economy News
1. BHEL bagged 16.96 million euro contract in Turkey for a thermal power project
Bharat Heavy Electricals (BHEL) on 22 December 2014 bagged a 16.96 million Euro (approximately 130.8 crore rupees) contract for a thermal power project in Turkey. This is BHEL’s maiden entry in the Turkish Power Market.
The contract was placed by Electricity Generation Company (EUAS) which is the largest electric power company in Turkey and it aims at reducing the emission levels drastically.
Details of the Contract
BHEL needs to rehabilitate 3 units of Electrostatic Precipitators (ESPs) for the 430 MW Tuncbilek Thermal Power Project in Turkey on EPC (Engineering, Procurement & Construction) basis.
It envisages dismantling, supply, civil works and erection & commissioning of the Electrostatic Precipitators
The Electrostatic Precipitators will be manufactured and supplied by BHEL’s Ranipet unit, Motors and other auxiliaries by its Bhopal facility and Controls by the BHEL’s Bangalore unit.
About EUAS
EUAS owned by the Turkish government generates and supplies electricity throughout the country. It was founded to generate electricity in compliance with the energy and economic policies of the state and in accordance with the principles of efficiency and profitability.
2. Jyotsna Suri elected as the President of the FICCI
Jyotsna Suri, Chairperson of Bharat Hotels, on 20 December 2014 was elected as the President of the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce & Industry (FICCI).
She was elected as the President at the conclusion of the FICCI 87th annual general meeting.
She succeeded Sidharth Birla, Chairman of Xpro India Limited and Digjam Limited.
Also, Ambuja Neotia group Chairman Harshavardhan Neotia was elected Senior Vice President and Zydus Cadila Chairman Pankaj R. Patel as Vice President.
About Jyotsana Suri
Jyotsana Suri has been the Chairperson of the FICCI tourism committee since last five years and is the only Indian member on the International Executive Committee of the World Travel and Tourism Council (WTTC).
Under her direction, FICCI introduced The Great India Travel Bazaar in the year 2008 and The Great Domestic Tourism Bazaar in the year 2011.
She has won many awards and accolades. Few among them includes
Honorary Degree of Doctor of Laws from the Warwick University, the UK
World Travel Market Global Award (2011)
Asia’s Leading Woman in Hospitality Award at the Women in Leadership (WIL) Asia Awards 2012
About FICCI
The Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI) is an association of business organizations in India. The organisation was established in 1927, on the advice of Mahatma Gandhi by GD Birla and Purushottam Das Thakurdas.
It is the largest, oldest and the apex business organisation in India
3. Maharashtra government made e-tendering mandatory for projects over 3 lakh rupees
State Government of Maharashtra on 18 December 2014 decided to make e-tendering compulsory for projects over 3 lakh rupees. The step was taken to bring transparency and curb irregularities in the state administration.
It will become compulsory from 1 April 2015. Till then, people have the choice of using the e-tendering facility or not.
However, for bids over 10 lakh rupees e-tendering has been made compulsory with immediate effect.
These norms will be applicable to all the departments of the state government, urban and rural local self-government bodies like gram panchayats and zilla parishads and corporations.
E-tendering in Maharashtra
The e-tendering process has been in Maharashtra since 2010. The state government started the process after receiving flak for corruption in the manual tendering process. But earlier, the process was applicable only for schemes and projects of 50 lakh rupees and above. Later, in 2013, the amount was brought down to 10 lakh rupees.
News Related to India and Indian Polity
4. Union Government released Calendar for the year 2015 with theme Clean India Green India
Union Government released Calendar for the year 2015 with the theme Clean India Green India. The Union Minister of Information and Broadcasting Minister Arun Jaitley launched the calendar and its mobile app on 17 December 2014.
The calendar highlights the societal work of the union government through the visuals of Swachch Bharat or Clean India Programme with picture of Prime Minister Narendra Modi wielding the broom on the first page of the calendar.
The calendar also contributes to the union government’s Digital India programme with its mobile calendar app.
The mobile app will display all gazetted and restricted holidays and also date-wise events. It will also provide information on Press Information Bureau events and releases, the latest five tweets by the Prime Minister’s Office, All India Radio news, Doordarshan news, a list of government websites and link to the ministry on YouTube.
At present, the mobile app being developed for Android platforms and in future the app will be available on other mobile platforms.
5. Losar, the New Year festival of Ladakh region, began
Losar, the Buddhists festival of Ladakh region of Jammu and Kashmir, started on 22 December 2014. The festival marks the beginning of New Year in Ladakh.
The festival is celebrated by people of the area with traditional and religion fervor. The festival begins with illumination of religious and residential places.
Buddhists of Ladakh celebrate Losar as their new year. Before the rule of Jamiang Namgyal (1955 to 1610) this day was celebrated on the first day of Ladakhi Buddhist Year which is based in the moon and sun (quite similar to Hindus). However, the day was advanced by two days after Jamiang Namgyal decided to invade Skardu before the New Year.
Since then, Losar is celebrated on the last two days of the 10th Bodhi month that coincides with December of Christian calendar.
During this, people of Ladakh specially remember ancestors of their family. On this day, people visit graveyards of their family members and pray for peace of the departed soul. Apart from this, people also visit each other houses for exchange of Losar greetings.
6. India observed National Mathematics Day to commemorate birth anniversary of Srinivasa Ramanujan
India on 22 December 2014 celebrated National Mathematics Day. The day is observed to commemorate the birth anniversary of great Indian Mathematician Srinivasa Ramanujan.
The declaration to observe 22 December as National Mathematics Day was made by former Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh on 26 February 2012 at Madras University on the occasion of 125th birth anniversary of Ramanujan.
It was also declared to observe year 2012 as the National Mathematics Year.
About Srinivasa Ramanujan
Srinivasa Ramanujan was born on 22 December 1887 in Erode district of Tamil Nadu.
He died on 26 April 1920
Ramanujan did wonders in number theory, infinite series, mathematical analysis, and making formulas and equations.
He compiled more than 3900 mathematical results and equations, and his discoveries namely Ramanujam Prime and Ramanujam theta inspired further research on the subject.
He along with a British Mathematician Godfrey Harold Hardy discovered the smallest number represented as sum of two cubes 1729 which came to be known as Hardy-Ramanujan number.
Ramanujan was said to be a natural genius, in the same league as mathematicians such as Euler and Gauss.
7. Rajinder Khanna to be New Chief of RAW
Special Secretary in Research and Analysis Wing or RAW, the country's external intelligence gathering agency, Rajinder Khanna was on Saturday appointed as its new chief.
The Appointments Committee of Cabinet headed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi cleared Mr Khanna, a 1978 batch RAS cadre, for the post of RAW chief for a period of two years from December 31 after incumbent Alok Joshi retires.
Mr Khanna's batchmate Arvind Saxena been appointed as head of Aviation Research Centre.
Considered as the father of counter-terrorism unit in the RAW, Mr Khanna has been in the forefront of seeking cooperation from intelligence agencies around the globe.
During his long stint in RAW, Mr Khanna has served in Northeast as well as abroad.
8. Prakash Mishra to Head CRPF
Special Secretary (Internal Security) in Union Home Ministry Prakash Mishra was appointed as head of the Central Reserve Police Force or CRPF, the world's largest paramilitary force with over three lakh personnel.
Mr Mishra, a 1977-batch IPS officer from Odisha cadre, was made chief of CRPF, a post lying vacant since Dilip Trivedi retired on November 30.
CRPF is the mainstay for anti-Naxal operations and Mr Mishra has himself spearheaded such operations when he was the Director General of Police in Odisha.
International News
9. EXACTO: The bullet that can change direction mid-air
Extreme Accuracy Tasked Ordnance (EXACTO) is a 0.50 caliber round bullet that can change direction mid-air to reach its target.
It was in news recently as it was revealed recently that Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) of the US Department of Defense concluded the Phase-II of the technology development.
The phase-II involved testing of design, integration and demonstration of aero-actuation controls, power sources, optical guidance systems, and sensors.
Aim and Objective of EXACTO
It seeks to improve sniper effectiveness and enhance US military troop safety by allowing greater shooter standoff range and reduction in target engagement timelines.
To revolutionize rifle accuracy and range by developing the first ever guided small-caliber bullet.
How it Works?
The EXACTO technology uses a combination of manoeuvrable bullet and a real-time guidance system to track and deliver the projectile to the target. This allows the bullet to change path mid-air to compensate for any unexpected factors that may drive it off course.
The bullet uses optical sighting technology to greatly extend the day and nighttime range over current state-of-the-art sniper systems.
The next phase of the program includes a system-level live-fire test and technology refinement to enhance and improve performance.
10. NASA plans airships, floating city for manned Venus mission
NASA plans to send solar-powered airships to explore Venus’ atmosphere and to eventually establish a permanent human colony in a floating cloud city above the Earth’s nearest planetary neighbour.
Dale Arney and Chris Jones, from the Space Mission Analysis Branch of NASA’s Systems Analysis and Concepts Directorate at Langley Research Centre, in Virginia, have proposed that it may make sense to go to Venus before we ever send humans to Mars.
NASA’s High Altitude Venus Operational Concept (HAVOC) mission aims to explore the atmosphere of Venus instead of exploring the surface.
The researchers believe the upper atmosphere of Venus is “probably the most Earth-like environment that’s out there”.
At 50 kilometres above its surface, Venus offers one atmosphere of pressure and only slightly lower gravity than Earth.
Astronauts would also be protected from radiation in Venus’s atmosphere, researchers said. The planet’s proximity to the Sun provides it 40 per cent more solar power than the Earth gets, and 240 per cent more than that seen on Mars.
Sports News
11. Sachin Tendulkar appointed as ambassador of Cricket World Cup 2015
Sachin Tendulkar was appointed as the ambassador of Cricket World Cup 2015. The decision was announced by the International Cricket Council (ICC) on 22 December 2014.
He was appointed as ambassador of Cricket World Cup of ICC for the second successive time. Tendulkar in the role of ambassador will promote and support a variety of ICC initiatives to enhance the profile of the tournament.
Cricket World Cup is the third biggest sporting event in the world and 2015 World Cup will take place in Australia and New Zealand from 14 February to 29 March 2015.
In 2013, Sachin retired from international cricket after representing India in 200 Tests, 463 One-Day International and one Twenty20 International. In his 24 years of career he scored a total of 34357 international runs and 100 centuries. He is the all-time leading run-getter in World Cup history with 2278 runs in 45 matches at an average of 56.95.
In World Cup 2003, he was awarded player of the tournament for his 673 runs in the tournament.
12. India won Men and Women title of Kabaddi World Cup 2014
India on 20 December 2014 won the Men and Women title of Kabaddi World Cup 2014. This was the fifth Kabaddi World Cup.
In Men, India defeated Pakistan while in women, India defeated New Zealand to win the title for the fourth consecutive time.
The final match of the cup was played at Guru Gobind Singh Multipurpose Stadium in Jalandhar, Punjab, India.
Awards in Men’s section
The winner of men section, India, bagged prize money of 2 crore rupees and first runners up, Pakistan won 1 crore rupees. Iraq that stood third won prize money of 51 lakh rupees.
Best raiders: Sandeep Surakhpur (India) and Shafiq Ahmad Chishti (Pakistan)
Best stopper: Yadwinder
They were awarded with Preet Tractors each.
Awards in Women’s section
The winner of women section, India, bagged prize money of 1 crore rupees and first runners up, New Zealand, won 51 lakh rupees. Pakistan that stood third won prize money of 25 lakh rupees.
Best raiders: Ram Bateri (India), Priyanka (India), Lani Perese (New Zealand)
Best stopper: Anu Rani (India) and Tito (New Zealand)
Both best raider and stopper were awarded with a case prize of 1 lakh rupees each.
Participating Nations
Men - 11 teams
Women - 8 teams
13. Atletico de Kolkata wins inaugural India Super League
Mohammed Rafique nodded home the most important goal in the Indian Super League as Atletico de Kolkata won the inaugural edition here on Saturday evening. The injury-time goal from the substitute broke Kerala Blasters’ hearts after a rousing first-half display at the D.Y. Patil stadium.
KB’s marquee player David James had put his reputation on the line by including himself in place of the in-form Sandip Nandy. He reacted to the header, coming off a flag-kick, but not fast enough to come anywhere near the ball which bounced in sight and continued its onward route into the net.
Note : A detailed PDF will be uploaded shortly in ExamPundit.
14. Shiva Keshavan won Silver at 17th Asian Luge Championships
Shiva Keshavan on 21 December 2014 won Silver at the 17th Asian Luge Championships. He clocked 49.934 seconds to cover the 1326 metre long ice track in the men's luge competition at the Spiral Olympic Sliding Centre in Nagano, Japan.
The Gold was won by Japan's Hidenari Kanayama with a time of 49.791 seconds while Kim of Korea bagged the bronze with a timing of 50.178. Hidenari had also won gold in 2011 and 2022 Asian Luge Championships.
However, Keshavan’s Asian records remain intact. He has the start record of 3.191 seconds and speed record of 134.3 kmph in the Asian Luge Championhips.
On the other hand, in the Class B of the Asia Cup also saw India's Murlidhar Negi finish ninth.
In the Ladies' Class B section, India's Yuvavanti Negi, Nikita Thakur and Jahnavi Rawat finished fourth, fifth and sixth, respectively.