HDFC Bank's Managing Director current parliamentary constituency Lucknow

HDFC Bank's Managing Director
Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi is arriving in New Delhi tomorrow on a two-day visit. This is the first high-level visit from China after the New Government was voted to power. 

HDFC Bank's Managing Director (MD) Aditya Puri retained his position as the highest-paid banking chief in the country in financial year 2013-14 (April-March). Puri, who is also the longest serving chief of an Indian bank, received remuneration of Rs 6.07 crore in 2013-14, or 20.9 per cent more than what he earned in the previous year+

Fluminense striker Fred scored his first international goal in almost a year as Brazil wrapped up their World Cup preparations with an unconvincing 1-0 victory over Serbia.

 Union Minister of Home Affairs, Rajnath Singh will be visiting his parliamentary constituency Lucknow on Friday for the first time. 

 Rafa Nadal played his best tennis to set up a much-awaited French Open showdown against Novak Djokovic with a 6-3 6-2 6-1 demolition of Wimbledon winner Andy Murray in the semi-finals on Friday.

Capital market regulator Sebi has widened its probe into suspected investment scams through mobile SMS and WhatsApp messages, wherein investors are lured into promise of huge returns after initial payments.


UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon nominated Prince Zeid Ra'ad Zeid Al-Hussein of Jordan as the new UN high commissioner for human rights.

current affairs 13 february 2013

National:

CBI probe ordered into Italian chopper deal

The Defence Ministry has ordered an inquiry by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) into the allegations

of bribery and financial irregularities in the Rs. 3,600 crore VVIP helicopter deal with Italian defence giant

Finmeccanica. The 2010 contract involved the supply of 12 AgustaWestland choppers. Defence Minister A.

K. Antony ordered the CBI probe soon after it became known that Giuseppe Orsi, the head of Finmeccanica,

was arrested in Milan in an investigation related to the Indian deal. India had inked the deal in February 2010

to acquire the 12 three-engine AW-101 helicopters from AgustaWestland for the Indian Air Force’s elite

Communication Squadron, which ferries the President, PM and other VVIPs. The first three of the 12 AW

VVIP choppers have already arrived in India and the rest are expected to be supplied by the middle of 2014.

However, the Defence Ministry has decided to put on hold the delivery of the remaining nine VVIP choppers.

Doctors’ strike prima facie amounts to criminal offence

Taking suo motu cognisance of the adverse effect on patients at government hospitals in the State owing to

doctors’ strike, the Karnataka High Court has directed the State government to prima facie treat doctors’

conduct as criminal offence under the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and initiate legal action against them. A

Division Bench comprising acting Chief Justice K. Sreedhar Rao and Justice S. Abdul Nazeer passed the

order while initiating a suo motu public interest litigation (PIL) petition based on the reports published in

newspapers on the plight of poor patients visiting government hospitals. The Bench said that the strike by

the doctors would also attract criminal law through Section 491 of the IPC, which describes “breach of

contract to attend on and supply wants of helpless person” as an offence.

AMU to honour Zafar Iqbal

Former Indian hockey team captain and Olympian Zafar Iqbal is to be conferred an honorary D.Litt. (Doctor

of Letters) degree by Aligarh Muslim University for his contributions in the field of sports. UPA Chairperson

Sonia Gandhi will confer the honour on Iqbal at the 60th Convocation of the University.

Now ‘Incredible India’ to woo Japan

As part of plans to attract foreign tourists to India, the Union Tourism Ministry will take the “Incredible India”

campaign through road shows to Japan in February 2013. Union Minister of State for Tourism K. Chiranjeevi

told that road shows will be held in Tokyo and Osaka to showcase Indian destinations in Japan as part of the

Incredible India campaign to woo more tourists. The two countries are in talks to ink a memorandum of

understanding for cooperation in the tourism sector. India and Japan are important tourism markets for each

other. Japan is one of the top ten tourism generating markets for India as far as inbound tourism is

concerned. India has been offering Visa on Arrival facility to Japan since 2010. The number of Japanese

tourists in 2008 stood at 145,352 which rose to 193,525 in 2011.

New Chairman for Lalit Kala Akademi

K. K. Chakravarty, a retired bureaucrat who had steered the National Museum and other cultural institutions

in the past, was named the new Chairman of Lalit Kala Akademi. President Pranab Mukherjee cleared the

appointment of the 1970 batch IAS officer. Mr. Chakravarty will hold the office till December 31, 2017, when

he will complete 70 years of age. Mr. Chakravarty has served the Madhya Pradesh Government in various

capacities.

Report finds poor hygiene in kitchens

A majority of homemakers are unaware that kitchens can harbour as many disease-causing germs as their

bathrooms, says a recent survey conducted by the Indian Medical Academy, a New Delhi-based forum of

healthcare professionals. The survey was carried out in seven cities and involved 1,400 homemakers. While

87 per cent of the respondents said removal of dirt, dust and oil qualified as adequate cleaning of kitchens

nearly 95 per cent believed that a visually clean kitchen implied it was hygienically clean. Even as most of

the respondents gave importance to dusting and cleaning their bathrooms at regular intervals, none of them

felt that their kitchen ought to be cleaned on a daily basis to minimise the risk of infection. The report pointed

out that 97 per cent of the respondents believe that the cause of diseases like diarrhoea are commercially

prepared food but 73 per cent of the doctors said that diarrhoea is caused due to home-made food being

contaminated.

All children in private school must get free education

In an order having far-reaching consequences, the Karnataka High Court has held that all students aged

between six and 14 in private schools are eligible for free education and not just those from poor families

gaining admission under a 25 per cent quota fixed by the Right to Free and Compulsory Education Act. In an

interim order on a batch of petitions, Justice Huluvadi G. Ramesh said Article 21A of the Constitution

guaranteed free and compulsory education to all children in that age group. The State government should

reimburse the fees charged by private schools. “It is for the State and Central governments to work out the

fee that has to be paid by children in the age group 6-14 and to see that proper arrangements are made to

indemnify the institutions concerned on behalf of the children,” the judge said.

Belgaum-based foundry wins award

Belgaum based Ashok Iron Works, one of the largest and renowned foundry groups in India, has won the

coveted ‘Casting of the Year Award-2012’ instituted by The Institute of Indian Foundrymen (IIF). The award

was presented by Harsh K. Jha, president of the IIF, to Jayant A. Humbarwadi, executive director of Ashok

Iron Works, at the 61st Indian Foundry Congress held at Kolkata recently.

K.K. Goyal appointed CBI's prosecutor in 2G case

K. K. Goyal has been appointed as the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) prosecutor in 2G-spectrum

case. The CBI removed A. K. Singh after allegations surfaced that he was in touch with Unitech Managing

Director Sanjay Chandra, who is an accused in the case. Chandra along with Raja and 12 others have been

charged with conspiracy, forgery and cheating in the 2G case.

No green fee exemption to vehicles with non-Himachal registration numbers

Local vehicles bearing non-Himachal registration numbers will no longer be given an exemption on green fee

levied at four entry points to Shimla town. The green fee was implemented from September 15 last year and

an initial exemption was provided to nearly 487 vehicles bearing non-HP registration numbers. The fee being

levied according to vehicle type is Rs 100 for two-wheelers, Rs 200 for cars, Rs 300 for SUVs and Rs 500 for

buses, trucks and other heavy vehicles bearing non-HP numbers.

International:

North Korea conducts third nuclear test

North Korea said it had conducted a “successful” underground nuclear test, a move that brought

condemnation from its neighbours and threatened to heighten regional tensions. It said the test the third

conducted by the country since 2006 and the first under the new leader Kim Jong-un was a response to

“outrageous” American hostility and the sanctions imposed on the country for a rocket launch in December

2012. The test was reported to have taken place at a site in the North Hamgyeong province, where the

Punggye-ri nuclear complex that conducted tests in 2006 and 2009 is located. The 2009 test brought tighter

sanctions from the United Nations Security Council. and triggered fresh tensions with South Korea and

Japan.

Pakistan to rename Sindh province to 'Sind'

The Sindh Assembly has approved a bill to rename the southern Pakistani province as Sind. The assembly

approved the Sindh Laws Amendment Bill of 2012, whereby the letter "h" will be removed from the name of

the province. The name of the province will be written as Sind instead of Sindh, state-run Radio Pakistan

reported. The southern province is ruled by a Pakistan Peoples Party(PPP)-led government. PPP is also in

charge of the federal government. The capital of the province is Karachi, the country's largest city and its

financial hub. The province of Sindh is named after the Indus River, which was previously called 'Sindhu'.

Amazing parrot

A blue-fronted Amazon parrot is amusing people in the U.K. with his ability to speak multiple languages,

including Urdu. Rocket, the multilingual bird who speaks Arabic, Urdu and English, can be heard greeting

“Assalamu Alaikum” (Peace be upon you) in Arabic to amazed passers-by. The bird is just as likely to

squawk “Hello, how are you?” as “Arg yahaan” — Urdu for “they’re here.” The bird was bought to Greater

Manchester two years ago by a Pakistani who kept parrots back home.

Business & Economy:

Banks to recover Kingfisher loans

The consortium of lenders led by State Bank of India (SBI) has taken an in principle decision to recall the

loan given to troubled Kingfisher Airlines, thus putting a possible end to the Kingfisher saga. Seventeen

banks have an exposure of Rs.7,000 crore to Kingfisher Airlines. The banks have now said the Kingfisher

loan matter had reached a dead end. Banks had to consider this drastic step as the airline’s management

could not come up with any credible revival plan. Its flying licence has been cancelled since January 1, 2013.

It stopped flying since October 1, 2012, following a strike.

Bank credit not fundamental right

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has said that while every individual can open a bank account, bank credit

cannot be considered a fundamental right. The statement comes at a time when the government is pursuing

an agenda of financial inclusion through banks. Banks have been asked to ensure that every household has

a bank account to facilitate direct cash transfers from the government. In the past banks have been used to

extend credit under liberalized terms to farmers under Kisan Credit Card (KCC) and other schemes.

EPFO to include 'AAA' rated corporate bonds in portfolio

The Employees' Provident Fund Organisation is set to widen its investment horizon by including 'AAA' rated

corporate bonds of any private company in its portfolio following a clean chit from Crisil, a move that can

open up a window for blue-chip corporates to raise about Rs 35,000 crore through long-term debt papers

annually. Crisil, which was appointed by EPFO to advice on investment portfolio, has said that none of the

'AAA' rated corporate bonds issued by private companies have defaulted so far and hence can be

considered for investment by the provident fund to improve its returns. At present, EPFO can invest in only

bonds issued by PSUs and seven private companies and banks HDFC, IDFC, IL&FS, LIC Housing Finance,

HDFC Bank, ICICI Bank and Axis Bank.

Punjab Govt. inks MoU with Monsanto for centres of excellence

The Punjab Government has inked a memorandum of understanding with Monsanto Holdings Private

Limited to jointly establish three “centres of excellence” for promotion of cotton, maize and vegetables in the

State. According to the MoU, a long-term collaboration in agriculture would be established for sustainable

agricultural growth through partnership and using collective expertise for evaluation, development and

implementation of practical solutions to enhance farm productivity.

Cashew industry to shun Kochi Port

The Cashew Manufacturers and Exporters Association, has decided to boycott the Kochi Port, and instead

promote the Tuticorin Port in Tamil Nadu for importing raw cashew nuts and exporting processed cashew

kernels. The association had already given directions to three container ships carrying 18,000 metric tonnes

of raw cashew from the Mtwara Port in Tanzania destined for the Kochi Port to skip the latter port and call at

the Tuticorin port. The ships Kota Hormat, Kota Hungal and Kota Akbar have already steered clear of the

Kochi Port, and are heading for the Tuticorin Port.

Yusuffali to pick up 4.99 per cent stake in Catholic Syrian Bank

Dubai-based Kerala businessman Yusuffali M. A., who runs the largest retail chain Lulu Centre in the UAE,

has agreed to pick up 4.99 per cent stake in Catholic Syrian Bank from its largest shareholder Sura

Chansrichawla and is awaiting the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) nod, said bank Chairman S.

Santhanakrishnan. The CSB chief said he had appointed Rakesh Bhatia from the HSBC Group as the new

Managing Director, who had also picked up around one per cent in the Thrissur-based unlisted bank. The

RBI has made its prior approval mandatory for any stake sale in CSB running into more than one per cent of

its total shares, unlike other banks where an investor is free to buy up to 5 per cent equity.

Centre to revive sick PSUs

The Centre has decided to revive some of its sick undertakings, including several units of HMT, in the near

future. The Department of Public Enterprises Secretary, O. P. Rawat, said that the proposals to revive about

half-a-dozen sick units were in the process,. He said the Board for Reconstruction of Public Sector

Enterprises (BRPSE) had already recommended the revival of HMT Ltd., Hindustan Cables Ltd. (HCL) and

Hindustan Photo Films Manufacturing Company. The Union Government was working out the details before

making the necessary financial commitment.

RCom and Ericsson sign $1 billion network management pact

Reliance Communications has awarded a $1 billion outsourcing contract to Swedish telecom equipmentmaker

Ericsson to manage its networks across the northern and western states of the country. The contract

would cover one lakh kilometres of fibre and mobile infrastructure in 11 telecom circles of RCom, across

North and West of India including Delhi and Mumbai. The eight-year agreement is valued at $ 1 billion.

NSE stops using S&P name for indices as licensing pact ends

Leading stock exchange NSE has stopped using the name of global financial market indexing and ratings

major Standard and Poor's (S&P) for its various indices, including benchmark Nifty, as a licensing agreement

between them in this regard has been terminated. S&P had a licensing arrangement with India Index

Services & Products Ltd (IISL), a joint venture between NSE and Indian ratings agency and S&P group firm

Crisil, under which the Indian bourse was using S&P trademark in the names of its various indices including

market benchmark Nifty. However, the licensing agreement has expired with effect from January 31, 2013.

Sport:

No wrestling in 2020 Olympics

Wrestling, an Olympic sport since the first Games in ancient Greece, looks set to be dropped, after the

International Olympic Committee (IOC) has voted to remove it from the programme for 2020. The decision,

taken by the 15 members of the IOC executive board in Lausanne, Switzerland, leaves the sport grappling

against seven other disciplines for inclusion at the Games. Wrestling first appeared in 708 BC and has so far

not appeared in a Olympic Games only in 1900. It has a chance of regaining its berth if some IOC members

not on the board vote against decision.

Hero to drop sponsorship of IPL and Mumbai Indians

Just two years after India's biggest two-wheeler manufacturer, Hero MotoCorp, splashed money into cricket

by inking a record sponsorship deal of $15 million in the Indian Premier League with the Mumbai Indians, the

company has decided to pull out with one year still left on the contract. Hero decided to renew its

sponsorship deal with the governing body of world hockey, the International Hockey Federation (FIH),

following a successful first edition of the Hockey India League, where they were the title sponsors. In 2011,

Hero had signed a $15 million sponsorship deal with the Mumbai franchise which was the biggest in the

history of the IPL. That deal had only strengthened their ties with the franchise, considering they were

already present in the first three seasons of the league as one of the many sponsors.

Rafael Nadal wins doubles debut at Brazil Open

Spain's Rafael Nadal teamed up with Argentina's David Nalbandian to post a three-set doubles victory in the

Brazil Open. The world number five, back on court after his defeat in the Vina del Mar Open in Chile, and

Nalbandian won 6-3, 3-6, 11-9 in just 79 minutes over fellow Spaniards Pablo Andujar and Guillermo Garcia-

Lopez in the first- round of the ATP Tour clay court event. Sao Paulo is the second stop on Nadal's comeback

to the ATP World Tour. The Spaniard won the Brazil Open in 2005 when it was held in Costa do Sauipe.