Daily Current Affairs: 08 January 2014

1) Ridiculous for banks to charge for withdrawals at own ATMs: RBI DG- Lashing out at the proposal from the Indian Banks' Association to start charging customers for ATM withdrawals, Reserve Bank of India Deputy Governor K C Chakrabarty has said that such a move on the part of banks would be 'ridiculous' and 'illogical'.

2) Nine people charred to death in Mumbai-Dehradun Express fire: Nine people were charred to death when a fire broke out in three coaches of Mumbai-Dehradun Express train near Dahanu road in neighbouring Thane district in the wee hours  of Wednesday.

3) Poet wins Mayilamma Award for efforts to empower women- The Chennai-based poet and activist Meena Kandasamy has won the Mayilamma Award named after the `Plachimada Heroine’ who had campaigned against the Coca-Cola company at Kerala’s Plachimada village.

4) Aam Aadmi Party’s office in Ghaziabad attacked:  A group of people attacked the Aam Aadmi Party headquarters in Kaushambi with bricks and stones apparently to protest party leader Prashant Bhushan’s remarks on Kashmir. The group of 50-60 people, who are believed to be members of a right-wing group, attacked the office, party sources said.

5) Even with 49Mbps, India to remain way behind in internet race- India is eagerly awaiting the launch of Reliance Jio's 4G connection, which promises to offer average internet speed of 49Mbps on the go. This is over 12 times faster than the current average of 4Mbps on the country's 3G networks. In theory, Reliance Jio's 4G network will offer maximum speed of 112Mbps. Download speed of 49Mbps may seem astounding for those in India, but the country will still lag far behind the leaders in the global internet race. South Korea, widely acknowledged as the most 'connected' nation in the world, already has the highest broadband internet speed of 53.3Mbps and average speed of 13.3Mbps.

6) Sarabjit Singh's attackers face murder trial in a Pakistani court:  The murder trial of Indian national Sarabjit Singh's attackers began at a high-security Pakistani jail today with a court holding the first hearing against alleged killers.

7) FIFA confirms 2022 World Cup will not be held in summer:  The 2022 World Cup in Qatar will not be held in June and July but would best be staged in the winter time, FIFA general secretary Jerome Valcke said on Wednesday. The scheduling of the tournament has been hotly debated ever since FIFA controversially awarded it to Qatar in December 2010, especially over fears that the summer heat in the Gulf emirate would be dangerous for players and fans alike.

8) EPFO to launch software for monitoring Pvt PF trusts: Retirement fund manager EPFO will launch a software on Sunday to monitor over 2,700 Private Provident Fund Trusts regulated by it so as to improve the delivery of services.

9) US shivers in Polar Vortex: Temperature records were shattered across the United States as the polar vortex continued to take hold, with all 50 states experiencing freezing temperatures at some point in the day.

10) Quarterfinal matches of the Ranji Trophy Cricket tournament began today.

11) Hockey World League trophy unveiled: The two-year-long journey of the new Hockey World League culminates with the eight-team World League Final which gets underway at the Major Dhyan Chand National Stadium in Delhi.

12)   Dhoni, Raina to launch 7 Premier League in Dubai tomorrow: Indian Skipper MS Dhoni and Suresh Raina will launch the 7 Premier League in Dubai tomorrow. The 7 Premier League or the 7 PL will feature teams from Seven Countries India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, South Africa, England and Australia.

13) World Bank to provide $500 m loan for rural water supply: World Bank will provide $500 million loan for water supply and sanitation projects in the rural areas of Assam, Bihar, Jharkhand and Uttar Pradesh.

14) Mahila Bank signs MoUs with ICAI to finance CA students: Bharatiya Mahila Bank (BMB), the first all-women bank, today signed an agreement with Institute of Chartered Accountants of India (ICAI) for financing students pursuing chartered accountancy.

15) Bank accounts for all by 2016: Recommending sweeping changes in the banking structure, an RBI panel has suggested setting up of specialised banks to cater to low income households to ensure that all citizens have bank accounts by 2016.