AUGUST-2013

CURRENT AFFAIRS : 17th AUGUST 2013

************************************************ 1. Dilip Trivedi is New CRPF Chief ! i. Senior IPS officer Dilip Trivedi has been appointed as the new chief of the country's largest paramilitary force CRPF. ii. Trivedi, a 1978-batch officer of Uttar Pradesh cadre, is presently serving as the Special Director General of the BSF at its headquarters. iii. Trivedi has served in various positions in the state police and has also served in the Centre as ADG of the Indo-Tibetan Border Police. iv. The post of Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) DG fell vacant on 31st July after incumbent chief Pranay Sahay retired. v. Trivedi is expected to take over charge from Saturday. vi. The about 3-lakh personnel strong CRPF is the mainstay for anti-Naxal operations in the country and is also deployed extensively in the country to render a variety of internal security duties. 2. Venkatesh Varma appointed Ambassador to UN Conference on Disarmament i. D.Bala Venkatesh Varma on 26 July 2013 was appointed as the next Ambassador and Permanent Representative of India to the UN Conference on Disarmament, Geneva. ii. Bala Venkatesh Verma is an Indian Foreign Service (IFS) officer of the 1988 batch. iii. D Bala Venkatesh Verma, Joint Secretary Disarmament in the Ministry of External Affairs was conferred with the first S K Singh Award for excellence in the Indian Foreign Service on 6 January 2012. iv. The award was presented to him by UPA Chairperson Sonia Gandhi in recognition of his extra-ordinary efforts to strengthen India's position during the Indo-US nuclear deal. v. He had earlier worked in India's Permanent Mission in Geneva and in the Prime Minister's Office. 3. $125 mn Exim Bank LOC for Sudan project i. The Export-Import Bank of India has extended a $125 million Line of Credit (LOC) to the Government of Sudan for financing the Mashkour Sugar Project in Sudan. ii. This is the second and final tranche of the total credit commitment of $150 million for financing the project, according to an official statement. iii. The LOC agreement was signed here Monday between EXIM Bank Chairman and Managing Director T. C. A. Ranganathan and Sudan Finance Minister Ali Mahmoud Mohamed, in the presence of India's Minister of State for External Affairs Praneet Kaur. iv. The LOCs have supported export of items like electricity equipment, photovoltaic cells, diesel locomotives, textile machinery, pumpsets, supply of bogies and spares, and setting up of 4x125 MegaWatt Kosti combined-cycle power plant in Sudan through the Bharat Heavy Electricals Ltd. v. Under the LOC for Mashkour Sugar Project, Exim Bank will reimburse 100 percent of the contract value to the Indian exporters, upfront upon shipment of goods. vi. Presently, Exim Bank has in place 175 LOCs covering 76 countries in Africa, Asia, Latin America, Europe and CIS with credit commitments of over $9.27 billion, available for financing exports from India.

4. Election Commission to use paper trail method in Nagaland by-polls i. For the first time, the Election Commission or EC would be using the paper trail system along with the Electronic Voting Machines in the Nagaland by-election scheduled to be held on September 4. ii. The system, called the Voter Verifiable Paper Audit Trail system (VVPAT), will accompany the Electronic Voting Machines (EVM). iii. When the voter presses a button on the EVM to select the party he wants to vote for, a small slip bearing the name and symbol of the party will briefly appear for about 10 seconds on the VVPAT system, after which it fall into a secure box, thus maintaining a paper trial of all the votes cast. iv. "This is the first time this new system will be tried in real time election. Depending upon the outcome, this system will be used in future elections," v. The Election Commission had recently convened an all-party meet to explain the new system and all of them agreed to try the new set-up. NOTE: This system comes into effect after Dr Subramanian Swamy approached Supreme Court complaining that the present EVM system leaves voters doubtful of the party they have voted for. The government has also made necessary changes in the rules to use the new paper trail system. 5. Vijay Singh named for top US environmental award i. An Indian-American professor of biological and agricultural engineering has been recognised for lifetime achievement by a top US environmental and water resources institute. ii. Vijay Singh, professor and Caroline & William N. Lehrer Distinguished Chair in the Department of Biological and Agricultural Engineering at Texas A&M University, has been named as a recipient of the 2013 Lifetime Achievement Award by the American Society of Civil Engineers Environmental and Water Resources Institute (ASCE-EWRI). iii. He was born in Agra, India, July 15, 1946. iv. He acquired his Master of Science degree from the University of Guelph in Ontario, Canada, and then did his Ph.D. from the Colorado State University. v. Set up in 1999, the Environmental and Water Resources Institute is a civil engineering specialty institute of the American Society of Civil Engineers, the country's oldest national engineering society. 6. LeT terrorist Abdul Karim Tunda held by Delhi Police i. Delhi Police has arrested Abdul Karim Tunda alias Abdul Quddooss, one of Indias top 20 wanted terrorists, and mastermind of over 40 bombings in the country, from the India-Nepal border. ii. Seventy-year-old Tunda, an expert bomb maker of terror outfit Lashkar-e-Taiba, was arrested at around 3 p.m. on Friday from the Banwasa-Mehendarnagar border with Nepal, and brought to Delhi. iii. Tunda was one of 20 terrorists India had demanded the Pakistani government to hand over after the 26/11 Mumbai terror attack. iv. This list includes Laskhar chief Hafiz Saeed, Jaish-e-Mohammed chief Maulana Masood Azhar and underworld don Dawood Ibrahim, amongst others. v . In 1993, Tunda and Ansari had set off a series of explosions in Mumbai and Hyderabad and seven separate bomb blasts on trains. After Jaleess arrest in January 1994, Tunda fled to Dhaka, capital of Bangladesh, vi. Tunda had planned to carry out bombings in and around Delhi in 2010 at the time of the Commonwealth Games, but the plan was timely thwarted with the arrest of his accomplices who were supposed to carry out the attack, vii. Tunda worked as a carpenter, scarp dealer and cloth merchant till 40, before becoming a jihadi militant. viii. He was carrying a Pakistani Passport No. AC 4413161 issued on January 23, 2013 in the name of Abdul Quddus, Special Commissioner of Police (Special Cell) S.N. Shrivastava told a press conference. 7. Cincinnati Masters: Rafael Nadal edges Roger Federer i. The world's top two tennis players, Novak Djokovic and Andy Murray, both suffered shock defeats Friday, while Rafael

Nadal stormed back to beat longtime rival Roger Federer at the Cincinnati Masters. ii. Number three Nadal booked a spot in the semi-finals by rallying past Federer, with the Swiss player saving four match points in a 5-7, 6-4, 6-3 loss. iii. The pair have met a total of 31 times, with Nadal winning 21 of those. iv. World number one Djokovic fell 7-6 (7/5), 3-6, 7-5 to unseeded John Isner as the Serb's attempt to set another tennis record ended in defeat. 8. Former Cricketer Kalyan Mitter Died i. Former Bengal Cricketer and Coach Kalyan Mitter passed away on 16 August 2013 in Kolkata. ii. He was 79. Kalyan Mitter's first class career spanned from 1953 to 1969 during which he played 51 matches for Bengal and Bihar during which he scored 1698 runs and also took 50 wickets. iii. Kalyan Mitter was also associated with women's cricket and its development in the West Bengal. iv. An aggressive right-hand batsman and an off-spinner, Kalyan Mitter coached Bengal (1992-94) and during his last season (1993-94). v. Kalyan Mitter also served as a curator for Bengal in the mid-90s, and in the first season of the IPL. He was honoured with the Lifetime Achievement award by the Cricket Association of Bengal in 2011.

17 August: Top 10 Current Affairs Saturday

1. Senior IPS officer Dilip Trivedi has been appointed as the new chief of the country's largest paramilitary force CRPF. 2. One of India's most wanted terrorist, Syed Abdul Karim alias Tunda, accused of masterminding over 40 bombings in the country, has been arrested by Delhi police from the Indo-Nepal border after he was apparently deported from one of the Gulf countries. 3. For the first time, the Election Commission or EC would be using the paper trail system along with the Electronic Voting Machines in the Nagaland by-election scheduled to be held on September 4. The system, called the Voter Verifiable Paper Audit Trail system (VVPAT), will accompany the Electronic Voting Machines (EVM). 4. An Indian-American professor of biological and agricultural engineering has been recognised for lifetime achievement by a top US environmental and water resources institute. 5. D.Bala Venkatesh Varma on 26 July 2013 was appointed as the next Ambassador and Permanent Representative of India to the UN Conference on Disarmament, Geneva.Bala Venkatesh Verma is an Indian Foreign Service (IFS) officer of the 1988 batch. 6. A local court of UP on Saturday directed the police to register a case against social activist Anna Hazare for allegedly showing disrespect to the National Flag during his visit here on July 29. 7. M Kavita Devi and T Lalchhanhima opened India's medal account in the 2nd Asian Youth Games with a bronze medal each in girl's judo and boy's weightlifting respectively on the first day of the competition in Nanjing, China on Saturday. 8. Iran continues to detain Indian tanker citing environment concerns for the sixth day on Saturday even as the two countries are involved in hectic negotiations to resolve the issue. MT Desh Shanti, the tanker belonging to the country's

largest ocean liner Shipping Corporation of India (SCI), was apprehended on 12th August in Persian Gulf by Iranian Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) and taken to Bandar Abbas port while carrying crude from Bashra in Iraq. India, through its mission in Tehran, is engaged in hectic negotiations for release of the tanker, the Spokesperson in the Ministry of External Affairs said here. 9. Yahoo Inc said it appointed veteran technology executive and Silicon Valley investor Maynard Webb as chairman, replacing Fred Amoroso at the company, which is struggling to jumpstart its advertising business. 10. India may not be short of foreign exchange to cover its import bill but the falling rupee and fears of FIIs withdrawing some of their investments in the country have put a spotlight on the reserves. From an import cover of over 17 months a decade ago, India now has reserves of around $279 billion, sufficient to fund imports of just under seven months. In contrast, the BRIC peers China, Russia and Brazil have reserves to cover imports for one-and-a-half to two years. Compared to some of its Asian countries, such as South Korea, Malaysia and Indonesia, the situation in India would appear to be under control. But, economists are quick to point out that barring Indonesia, all other economies with similar import covers have a surplus on the current account, while India reported a record deficit of 4.8% of GDP in 2012-13