Current Affairs 30August

1. National sports awards presented
Top sportspersons from various disciplines and eminent coaches were honoured by President Pranab Mukherjee at the 2014 National Sports Adventure Awards function at the Durbar Hall, Rashtrapati Bhawan, here on Friday. Arjuna awardee R. Ashwin, now in England, was the lone absentee at the ceremony.
The awardees:
Arjuna award: Abhishek Verma (archery), Tintu Luka (athletics), H.N. Girisha (para-athletics), V. Diju (badminton), Geethu Anna Jose (basketball), Jai Bhagwan (boxing), R. Ashwin (cricket), Anirban Lahiri (golf), Mamta Pujari (kabaddi), Saji Thomas (rowing), Heena Sidhu (shooting), Anaka Alankamony (squash), Tom Joseph (volleyball), Renubala Chanu (weightlifting), Sunil Kumar Rana (wrestling).

Dronacharya award: Mahabir Prasad (wrestling); Lifetime achievement: N. Lingappa (athletics), G. Manoharan (boxing), Gurcharan Singh Gogi (judo), Jose Jacob (rowing).
Dhyan Chand award: Gurmail Singh (hockey), K.P. Thakkar (swimming-diving), Zeeshan Ali (tennis).
Tenzing Norgay Awards: Land adventure: Subedar Jagat Singh, Passang Tenzing Sherpa; Air adventure: MWO Surender Singh; Lifetime achievement: Wg. Cdr. (retd) Amit Chowdhury.
Maulana Abul Kalam Azad Trophy: Punjabi University, Patiala.
Rashtriya Khel Protsahan Puraskar: Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (employment of sports persons and sports welfare measures); Jindal Steel Works (community sports–identification and nurturing of budding/young talent); Guru Hanuman akhara (establishment and management of sports academies of excellence); Child Link Foundation of India–Magic Bus (other forms of sports activities not covered in the categories mentioned in the schemes).

2. Govt clears defence deals worth Rs 17,000 cr
The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) government has made its first big decisions on equipping the forces, clearing acquisitions and renewals worth Rs 17,000 crore on Friday.
The apex Defence Acquisition Council (DAC), which met at New Delhi to clear the purchases, emphatically favoured manufacturing in India, even when clearing the procurement of foreign equipment. A long-running tender for buying 197 light utility helicopters (LuH) from the global market has been scrapped, and re-issued in the "Buy & Make (Indian)" category. This requires Indian companies to build the LuH in India, in collaboration, if necessary, with foreign partners.

3. India, Japan sign MoU to develop Varanasi into ‘smart city’
aranasi, which Prime Minister Narendra Modi represents in the Lok Sabha, will be developed into a ‘smart city’ by using the experience of Kyoto, the ’smart city’ of Japan, under a pact signed here on Saturday.
A Partner City MoU was signed by Indian Ambassador Deepa Wadhwa and Kyoto Mayor Daisaka Kadokawa at a ceremony witnessed by Modi and his Japanese counterpart Shinzo Abe.
The MoU, which was signed soon after Modi’s arrival here on a five—day visit, provides for cooperation in heritage conservation, city modernisation and cooperation in the fields of art, culture and academics, External Affairs Ministry spokesman Syed Akbaruddin

4. Historian Bipan Chandra dies at the age of 86
Noted historian Bipin Chandra died today at his residence here after prolonged illness.
He was 86. "He had not been keeping well since last few months. He passed away at 6am," his family said.
A Padma Bhushan awardee, Chandra had donned multiple roles including that of chairperson of the Centre for Historical Studies, Jawaharlal Nehru University, Member of the University Grants Commission (UGC) and the Chairman of the National Book Trust (NBT).
Considered to be a specialist in economic and political history of India, Chandra had authored several books including 'The Rise and Growth of Economic Nationalism', 'In the Name of Democracy: The JP Movement and the Emergency', 'Nationalism and Colonialism in Modern India' and 'The Making of Modern India: From Marx to Gandhi', among others.
The left leaning author had founded the journal 'Enquiry' and was a member of its editorial board for a long time.

5. Rating agencies will take note of economic revival: Mayaram
 Indian economy is on upward trajectory and the global rating agencies will take note of the development, Finance Secretary Arvind Mayaram today said.
“The Indian economy is on upward trajectory and this has been noticed globally and therefore, I am quite confident that the rating agencies will notice this,” Mayaram said while addressing the press conference to mark 100 days of the NDA government.
He was replying to a query whether in light of India’s economic growth in the first quarter rising to two-and-half year high of 5.7 per cent, global rating agencies like Moody’s and Standard & Poor’s would upgrade India credit rating.
Representatives of S&P had met senior finance ministry officials on August 12. Representatives of rating agencies Fitch and Moody’s will come in September-October.
The Finance Ministry officials are reported to have informed S&P about the government’s road map to reduce fiscal deficit to 3 per cent by 2016—17.

6. US Post honour for actor Nageswara Rao
 In a rare honour, the US Post Service is issuing a special postage
 stamp to commemorate legendary Indian actor Akkineni Nageswara Rao.
The thespian, who rode the Telugu cinema like a colossus for over 70 years and was decorated with all the top honours of the Indian film industry, including the Dada Saheb Phalke award had passed away early January this year at the ripe age of 90.
Popularly known as ANR, the versatile actor, created a record of sorts by featuring in `Manam’, which saw three generation of the Akkineni family, including himself, son (Nagarjuna) and grandsons (Naga Chaitanya and Nikhil).

 7. Corporation Bank keen to ramp up CASA deposits
 Corporation Bank is keen to ramp up the share of current and savings account deposits in its overall deposit base, its Chairman and Managing Director S R Bansal said.
"Our CASA deposits level is very low. From the current level of 17 per cent, we want to take it to 22 per cent,'' Bansal told Business Line here.
Towards this end, Corporation Bank plans to open 500 new branches this year. At least 30 per cent of the new branches will come in unbanked semi-urban and rural areas, he said.
The bank is targeting a 15-17 per cent growth in deposits and advances this fiscal, he added.

 8. Economy turning around, inflation moderating: Finance minister Arun Jaitley on govt's 100 days
With GDP numbers showing an uptick, finance minister Arun Jaitley on Saturday said the economy is turning around, investor confidence is improving and inflation is moderating as a result of the recent government decisions to relax FDI norms and push manufacturing.
The manufacturing curve has turned, services sector is looking up and inflation has by and large moderated, he said, while addressing his first press conference to mark 100 days of the NDA government in office.
"In the first quarter (April-June), a 5.7 per cent growth rate is encouraging. With the long-term impact of all the new initiatives setting in, I am sure the impact in the coming quarters will be much larger," he said.

9. EU leaders to pick new foreign policy chief
 European Union leaders will pick the 28-nation bloc’s foreign policy chief for the next five years at a summit on Saturday, with Italy’s top diplomat Federica Mogherini widely seen as the front-runner for the prestigious job.
The decision on incumbent Catherine Ashton’s successor comes as the crisis at the EU’s eastern border pitting Ukraine against Russia poses one of the biggest foreign policy challenges for the bloc in decades.
Ms. Ashton, whose term ends in October, has been a frequent interlocutor for U.S. secretaries of state and chairs the negotiations on Iran’s nuclear program.

10. Modi gifts Vivekananda book to Abe
 It may have been a relaxed Saturday for the residents of this historic Kyoto city, but Prime Minister Narendra Modi had a busy evening in this one-time imperial capital of Japan. From feeding fish with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe to witnessing an agreement between Varanasi and Kyoto, Mr. Modi set the pace for a hectic three days to follow.
At an informal dinner hosted by Mr. Abe for Mr. Modi and a few of his colleagues, the Prime Minister presented his Japanese counterpart with a specially-chosen book entitled “Swami Vivekananda and Japan”. Other than the Swami’s writings on Japan, Mr. Modi also presented Mr. Abe with a copy of the Bhagwad Gita.