Current Affairs for IAS Exams – 08 March 2016

:: NATIONAL ::

Government takes action against Vijay Mallya

In a setback to businessman Vijay Mallya, the Bengaluru Bench of the Debt Recovery Tribunal on Monday temporarily restrained U.K.-based Diageo Plc from paying $75 million to him as per the reported agreement signed with him
the sum would stand attached till further orders on the proceedings initiated by the banks to recover money borrowed by the Mallya-owned Kingfisher Airlines Limited
According to the banks, the total outstanding is now nearly Rs. 10,000 crore
The tribunal also directed Diageo and Mr. Mallya to provide particulars of their agreement to the banks led by the State Bank of India, which have sought a garnishee order claiming first right over the $75 million that Mr. Mallya is to get from Diageo.
It was reported that Diageo had offered to pay $75 million to Mr. Mallya in a five year period for stepping down from the post of Chairperson of United Spirits Ltd, which Diageo had acquired, and agreeing not to compete in business with it for a certain period
The ED has received a copy of the CBI case of corruption and criminal conspiracy registered in October 2015 against Mr. Mallya as director of Kingfisher Airlines
The ED will soon summon Mr. Mallya and the other accused to record their statements
The Directorate’s move to investigate money-laundering charges comes in the backdrop of the Karnataka High Court order to issue notice to Mr. Mallya and nine others based on a petition filed by SBI and 12 other banks.

Reduced disolved oxygen kills fishes in Karnataka

Garden city’s famed Ulsoor Lake became a graveyard. Thousands of fish were found dead, floating on the lake’s waters, all victims of the early summer heat and soaring temperature
Fish kill in the city’s lakes have almost become an annual phenomenon, during the onset of summer. It is usually a direct result of reduced dissolved oxygen level in the water.
While algae in the lake release oxygen into the water during daytime, it uses up dissolved oxygen during night time along with the fish creating a big drop in the dissolved oxygen levels. So, most fish kills are observed in early mornings.
Raw sewage let into the lake will be thick during summer compared to the rainy season, leading to a higher concentration of nutrients in the lake, which also causes drop in dissolved oxygen levels.
The water temperature of the lake will also shoot up,leading to such fish kills

India's first test tube baby born

Born at Jaslok Hospital to India’s first test tube baby Harsha
Harsha Chawda is India’s first test tube baby, a feat that had made IVF specialist Indira Hinduja a household name in the country

Palaeolithic hand-axe found in north Kerala (Register and Login to read Full News..)

Indians could face a higher risk of diabetes-induced lung ailments (Register and Login to read Full News..)

:: International ::

International Women's day gift by Air-India

National carrier Air India said it flew the “world’s longest” all women operated and supported flight from the national capital to San Francisco
The flight, which travelled a distance of around 14,500 km in close to 17 hours, was operated as part of International Women’s Day celebrations.
This year for the first time, on the world’s longest non-stop flight, entire flight operations from cockpit crew to cabin crew, check-in staf, doctor, customer care staf, ATC [air traffic control] and the entire ground-handling... were handled by women
The flight was under the command of Kshamta Bajpayee and Shubhangi Singh, along with First Oicers Ramya Kirti Gupta and Amrit Namdhari. The carrier has about 3,800 women employees, including pilots, cabin crew, engineers, technicians, doctors, security personnel and executives

Ray Tomlinson, credited with inventing e-mail died (Register and Login to read Full News..)

:: India and World ::

Security concerns increases on Arabian sea

Several ageing Pakistani fishing boats have been washing ashore in the Sir Creek area in Gujarat, leading to much speculation in the security establishment.
Most of the recoveries were made along the 32-km long G-Line, the nearest habitation being 30 km away in Lakhpat, to the south
“Following the alert by the Intelligence Bureau (IB) and the Gujarat Police, the security along the area has been enhanced.
The recovery of so many fishing boats has led to several theories. Some oicials argued that these were old boats used by drug syndicates for moving drugs from the Pakistani shore to the mid-sea where the cargo was transferred to other boats that take them to various destinations across the globe.
These boats were possibly abandoned and pushed towards the Indian side because of tidal movement.
Another group believed these were boats used for illegal fishing, and when those who manned them suspected that the Indian side had detected them, they abandoned the boat
Credible evidence has emerged that a major global drug smuggling racket is active in the waters of Gujarat. In April 2015, a boat carrying drugs worth over Rs. 600 crore was seized of Gujarat. A few weeks later, an Iranian fishing boat was found floating in the waters of Kerala

:: Business and Economy ::

Government identifying banks for consolidation

The government will identify six to ten public sector banks which will drive the consolidation process among the state-owned banks
Large lenders like State Bank of India (SBI), Bank of Baroda (BoB), Punjab National Bank (PNB) and Canara Bank could become the anchor banks
The government will set up an expert panel for the consolidation process. The Bank Board Bureau headed by former Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) Vinod Rai, which was recently formed to select chief executives and board members of public sector banks, will also help in the consolidation process.
Merger between the banks will be based on geographical and technological synergies, human resources and business profile, among others
Consolidation among public sector banks has been under discussionfor about a decade now.
There are 22 public sector banks in the country apart from five associate banks of State Bank of India. The present National Democratic Alliance (NDA) government has looked at the consolidation process diferently and initiated it.
Interestingly, during Gyan Sangam in Pune, bankers had opposed the idea of consolidation among public sector banks on the ground that the financial health of most of the banks had deteriorated. Hence, no bank was ready to absorb even a weaker institution
The financial performance of public sector banks reflected a sharp deterioration after the RBI conducted an Asset Quality Review (AQR). During the review, the central bank’s inspectors found that many accounts, which ideally should have been treated as nonperforming, were not classified so by the banks.
The RBI then directed the banks to classify those accounts as non-performing and provide accordingly during the October-December and January-March quarters.
As a result, as many as 11 public sector banks including Bank of Baroda, IDBI Bank, Bank of India and Indian Overseas Bank reported losses last quarter.

Finance minister says infrastructure projects will not be delayed in the future

Plans outlined in the Union Budget, along with the enactment of the recently amended arbitration law, could make the spectre of stalled infrastructure projects across the country a thing of the past
One of the important factors that stalls these projects is that with the passage of time, costs escalate beyond estimates, both because of raw material and labour costs going up and therefore, nobody in government is willing to take the responsibility for such cost escalations
A statutory mechanism to negotiate cost escalations under an oversight would be put into operation.
The country’s arbitration law now provided a fast-track mechanism to resolve cases within a year and commercial divisions had been created in every High Court