Current Affairs: 28 October 2014

1) Devendra Fadnavis to be sworn in as BJP’s first Maharashtra CM: Devendra Fadnavis was on Tuesday elected the leader of the BJP legislature party in Maharashtra, paving the way for his appointment as the first party chief minister of the state. The name of Fadnavis, state BJP president, was proposed by Leader of Opposition in the outgoing assembly Eknath Khadse and seconded by his counterpart in the legislative council Vinod Tawde, and members of the party's core group Sudhir Mungantiwar and Pankaja Munde. The resolution proposing 44-year-old Fadnavis as the leader of the legislature party was unanimously approved by the newly elected MLAs in the presence of Union home minister Rajnath Singh and BJP general secretary in-charge of Maharashtra J P Nadda. 

2) 2018 FIFA World Cup logo unveiled: FIFA President Sepp Blatter has revealed the 2018 World Cup logo. While unveiling the logo on a Russian state TV talk show Tuesday, Blatter said the logo would show Russia’s “heart and spirit”, reports Xinhua. The logo depicts the World Cup trophy in red and blue, colors from the Russian flag, with a gold trim.

3) Maruti launches new Swift: Maruti Suzuki India on Tuesday launched the refreshed version of its popular hatchback Swift with 10 per cent enhanced fuel efficiency, priced between Rs 4.42 lakh and Rs 6.95 lakh (ex-showroom Delhi). The model, which was first launched in the country in May 2005, has been re-introduced in both petrol and diesel variants. “The Swift now comes with improved fuel efficiency of 10 per cent and a rich equipment list like push start button, a 60:40 split rear seat, electric retractable outside mirrors, reverse parking sensor and others,” the company’s Executive Director (Marketing & Sales), R S Kalsi said. The company has sold over 12 lakh Swift cars till date.

4) Jual Oram Launched Vanbandhu Kalyan Yojana: Centre has launched Vanbandhu Kalyan Yojana (VKY) for welfare of Tribals. Launching the scheme on the occasion of the meeting of the Tribal Welfare Ministers of States/UTs here today the Union Tribal Welfare Minister Shri Jual Oram said that the scheme been launched on pilot basis in one block each of the States of AP, MP, HP, Telangana, Orissa, Jharkhand, Chattisgarh, Rajasthan, Maharashtra and Gujarat. Under the scheme centre will provide Rs. 10 crore for each block for the development of various facilities for the Tribals.

5) India to modernise Vietnam’s defence forces: Calling India’s defence cooperation with Vietnam “among our most important,” Prime Minister Narendra Modi gave a commitment to “modernise Vietnam’s defence and security forces” on Tuesday after talks with his counterpart Nguyen Tan Dung. The two countries signed several agreements, including a memorandum of understanding for exploration by ONGC Videsh Limited in two blocks in the South China Sea.

6) India slips to 114th spot in WEF Gender Gap Index: India registered a marked deterioration in its performance as measured by a World Economic Forum's Global Gender Gap index that ranked countries on the basis of providing equal opportunity to women in business, education, health and political empowerment. The index for this year places India 114th out of 142 countries, down from the 101st position last year. Last year's top four -- Iceland (1), Finland (2), Norway (3) and Sweden (4) -- retained their rankings. Rwanda entered the index for the first time at the seventh position.

7) UIDAI has issued 70 crore Aadhaar numbers till date: The Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) has as on date said that 70 crore Aadhaar Cards have been issued. Nine states including Andhra Pradesh, Kerala, Delhi, Himachal Pradesh, have crossed 90% Aadhaar coverage, while sixteen states have Aadhaar coverage of over 70%.

8) Surya Prakash appointed as Chairman of Prasar Bharti Board: Surya Prakash on 28 October 2014 was appointed as the Chairman of Prasar Bharti Board for a term of three years.  He succeeded Mrinal Pande whose term ended on April 2014. He was appointed on the recommendation of a three-member committee headed by Vice President M Hamid Ansari and comprising of Press Council of India Chairman Markandey Katju and Information and Broadcasting Secretary Bimal Julka.

9) Modi government sacked CMDs of 6 PSU banks: The Narendra Modi government has sacked the heads of six Public Sector Unit banks. The move comes after the Chairman of Syndicate Bank was arrested on bribery charges in August. A high-level panel report submitted to the government stated that there were irregularities in the selection process of the Chairman and Managing Directors of these banks. A panel headed by the RBI Governor during the UPA rule had shortlisted the names for Bank of Baroda, Canara Bank, Indian Overseas Bank, Oriental Bank of Commerce, United Bank and Vijaya Bank. The government has now scrapped the process and decided to fill vacancies of 8 posts of CMDs and 14 posts of Executive Directors through a fresh process involving RBI Governor or his nominee.