Top 10 Current Affairs of 2014

Edited by: Anubhav Lahiri

Needed for all kinds Banking/Government/Insurance Interviews,

Group Discussions.

Table of Contents
Formation of Telengana
Kashmir Floods
GST
Jayalalitha Asset Case
Saradha Scam
Recognition of Transgender
Swachh Bharat Abhiyan
Make in India
PMJDY
Mars Orbiter Mission

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10. Formation of Telengana

Telengana Formation or Formally known as Andhra Pradesh Reorganisation Act, 2014 is an Act of Indian
Parliament proclaiming the bifurcation of the Andhra Pradesh state into two states, Telangana and the
residuary Andhra Pradesh. The Act consists of all aspects of division of assets and liabilities, and finalizes
the boundaries of the proposed new states and the status of Hyderabad. The Bill was previously rejected
by Andhra Pradesh Legislative Assembly on January 30, 2014.
The bill was passed in the Lok Sabha on 18 February 2014 and in the Rajya Sabha on the 20 February
2014. The bill was attested by the President of India, Pranab Mukherjee on 1 March 2014 and published
in the official Gazette. The appointed day of the new states was 2 June 2014.

9. Kashmir Floods
In September 2014, the Kashmir region witnessed disastrous floods across majority of its districts caused
by torrential rainfall. The Indian administrated Jammu and Kashmir, as well as Azad Kashmir, GilgitBaltistan and Punjab in Pakistan, were affected by these floods. By September 24, 2014, nearly 277
people in India and 280 people in Pakistan had died due to the floods.
Home Secretary of India Anil Goswami said 82 aircraft and helicopters, 10 battalions of Border Security
Force, 329 columns of Indian Army and 300 boats were used in the rescue operations. According to
home secretary, 10 VSAT systems were air lifted to restore critical telecom towers and a satellite link
from Bardula had been provided for crucial communication.

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Prime Minister of India, Narendra Modi offered an assistance of `745 crore (US$120 million) to the state
government, this was in addition to `1100 crore (US$170 million) already earmarked for the disaster.

8. GST
What is GST?
Goods and Services Tax -- GST -- is a comprehensive tax levy on manufacture, sale and consumption of
goods and services at a national level.
Through a tax credit mechanism, this tax is collected on value-added goods and services at each stage of
sale or purchase in the supply chain.
The system allows the set-off of GST paid on the procurement of goods and services against the GST
which is payable on the supply of goods or services. However, the end consumer bears this tax as he is
the last person in the supply chain.
Experts say that GST is likely to improve tax collections and boost India's economic development by
breaking tax barriers between States and integrating India through a uniform tax rate.

What are the benefits of GST?

Under GST, the taxation burden will be divided equitably between manufacturing and services, through
a lower tax rate by increasing the tax base and minimizing exemptions.
It is expected to help build a transparent and corruption-free tax administration. GST will be is levied
only at the destination point, and not at various points (from manufacturing to retail outlets).
Currently, a manufacturer needs to pay tax when a finished product moves out from a factory, and it is
again taxed at the retail outlet when sold.

How will it benefit the Centre and the States?

It is estimated that India will gain $15 billion a year by implementing the Goods and Services Tax as it
would promote exports, raise employment and boost growth. It will divide the tax burden equitably
between manufacturing and services.

What are the benefits of GST for individuals and companies?

In the GST system, both Central and State taxes will be collected at the point of sale. Both components
(the Central and State GST) will be charged on the manufacturing cost. This will benefit individuals as
prices are likely to come down. Lower prices will lead to more consumption, thereby helping companies.

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7. Jayalalitha Asset Case

Jayalalithaa Jayaram, who is a former Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu convicted for misusing her office
during her tenure of 1991-96 to amass properties worth `66.65 crores.
Jayalalithaa was accused of misusing her office during her first tenure as chief minister during 1991-96
to amass properties worth `66.65 crores and depositing the amount in her proxy accounts.
A raid in her Poes garden residence in 1997 recovered 800 kg (1,800 lb) silver, 28 kg (62 lb) gold, 750
pairs of shoes, 10,500 sarees, 91 watches and other valuables. The valuables were kept in a vault in
Reserve Bank of India in Chennai. The opposition party petitioned to request the court to take the
control of the assets, but the special judge John Michael Cunha who inspected the assets on 7 January
2014, ordered the assets to be transferred to Bangalore.
The judgement of the case was pronounced on 27 September 2014 in the Special Court which convicted
all four including Jayalalithaa guilty. Chaos prevailed outside the court premises as well in Tamil Nadu on
account of the judgement getting delayed from 11 am to 3 pm. There was further confusion when the
sentence was not announced till 5 p.m. Soon after the judgement, violence erupted across Tamil Nadu.
Sporadic incidents of violence were reported across the state initiated by the AIADMK party men and
loyalists. Most shops, restaurants, malls and movie halls remained closed, while public transport was
totally stopped.
Subsequently, at a meeting of AIADMK, O. Panneerselvam was chosen as the Chief Minister of Tamil
Nadu.
On 17 October 2014, Supreme Court granted two months bail and suspended her sentence in
Disproportionate Assets Case.

6. Saradha Group Financial Scam

A major financial scam and political scandal caused by the collapse of a Ponzi scheme run by Saradha
Group, a consortium of over 200 private companies that was believed to be running collective
investment schemes popularly but incorrectly referred to as chit funds in Eastern India.
The group collected around `200 to `300 billion (US$46 billion) from over 1.7 million depositors before
it collapsed in April 2013. In the aftermath of the scandal, the State Government of West Bengal where
the Saradha Group and most of its investors were based instituted an inquiry commission to investigate
the collapse. The State government also set up a fund of `5 billion (US$79 million) to ensure that lowincome investors were not bankrupted.
The Central Government through the Income Tax Department and Enforcement Directorate launched a
multi-agency probe to investigate the Saradha scam and similar Ponzi schemes. In May 2014, the
Supreme Court of India, citing inter-state ramifications, possible international money laundering, serious

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regulatory failures and alleged political nexus, transferred all investigations into the Saradha Scam and
other Ponzi schemes to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), India's federal investigative agency.
Many prominent personalities were arrested for their involvement in the scam including two Members
of Parliament (MP) - Kunal Ghosh and Srinjoy Bose, former West Bengal Director General of Police Rajat
Majumdar, a top football club official Debabrata Sarkar, Sports and Transport minister in the West
Bengal Government Madan Mitra.

5. Recognition of Transgender in India

National Legal Services Authority (NALSA) v. Union of India is a landmark decision by the Supreme Court
of India, declared transgenders to be the 'third gender', affirmed that the fundamental rights granted
under the Constitution of India will be equally applicable on the transgenders and gave them the right to
self-identification of gender as male, female or third-gender.
Moreover, the court also held that the transgenders to be treated as socially and economically backward
classes and will be granted reservation in admissions in educational institutions and jobs.

4. Swachh Bharat Abhiyan

It is a national campaign by the Government of India, covering 4041 statutory towns, to clean the
streets, roads and infrastructure of the country.
This campaign was officially launched on 2 October 2014 at Rajghat, New Delhi, where Prime Minister
Narendra Modi himself cleaned the road. It is India's biggest ever cleanliness drive and 3 million
government employees and school and college students of India participated in this event.
Earlier it was known as Nirmal Bharat Abhiyaan. Originally launched in 1999.
The government will be launching a nationwide real-time monitoring system for toilets constructed
under the Swachh Bharat Abhiyan. With this system the government aims to attain a 100% open
defecation free India by 2019.

The components of the programme are:

a) Construction of individual sanitary latrines for households below the poverty line with subsidy
(80%) where demand exists.
b) Conversion of dry latrines into low-cost sanitary latrines.

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c) Construction of exclusive village sanitary complexes for women providing facilities for hand
pumping, bathing, sanitation and washing on a selective basis where there is not adequate land
or space within houses and where village panchayats are willing to maintain the facilities.
d) Setting up of sanitary marts.
e) Total sanitation of villages through the construction of drains, soakage pits, solid and liquid
waste disposal.
f) Intensive campaign for awareness generation and health education to create a felt need for
personal, household and environmental sanitation facilities

Specific objectives are:

Elimination of open defecation

Conversion of insanitary toilets to pour flush toilets
Eradication of manual scavenging
100% collection and scientific processing/disposal/reuse/recycling of municipal solid waste
A behavioural change in people regarding healthy sanitation practices
Generation of awareness among citizens about sanitation and its linkages with public health
Supporting urban local bodies in designing, executing and operating waste disposal systems
Facilitating private-sector participation in capital expenditure and operation and maintenance
costs for sanitary facilities

3. MAKE IN INDIA
Make in India is an international marketing strategy, conceptualized by the Prime Minister of India,
Narendra Modi on 25 September 2014 to attract investments from businesses around the world, and in
the process, strengthen India's manufacturing sector.
The campaign has been concentrated to fulfill the purpose of job creation, enforcement to secondary
and tertiary sector, boosting the national economy, converting India to a self-reliant country and to give
the Indian economy global recognition.
The 'Make in India' also attempts to enforce the inflow of FDI in the country and improve services by
partial privatization of loss-making government firms. The campaign is completely under control of the
Central Government of India.
The major objective behind this initiative is to focus upon the heavy industries and public enterprises
while generating employment, empowering secondary and tertiary sector and utilizing the human
resource present in India.
The most common example is our website exampundit.in which has an .in domain which is a made in
India.

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Japan will contribute to Prime Minister Narendra Modi's 'Make in India' initiative to support India in
becoming a base of economic growth for the Indo-Pacific region and the world.

2. Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana

It is a scheme for comprehensive financial inclusion launched by the Prime Minister of India, Narendra
Modi on 28 August 2014 He had announced this scheme on his first Independence Day speech on 15
August 2014.
Run by Department of Financial Services, Ministry of Finance, on the inauguration day, 1.5 Crore (15
million) bank accounts were opened under this scheme.
By 28 January 2015, 12.58 crore accounts were opened, with around `10590 crore (US$1.7 billion) were
deposited under the scheme, which also has an option for opening new bank accounts with zero
balance.

Under the scheme:

1. Account holders will be provided zero-balance bank account with RuPay debit card, in
addition to accidental insurance cover of `1 lakh(to be given by 'HDFC Ergo').
2. Those who open accounts by January 26, 2015 over and above the `1 lakh accident,
they will be given life insurance cover of `30,000(to be given by LIC).
3. After Six months of opening of the bank account, holders can avail `5,000 overdraft
from the bank.
4. With the introduction of new technology introduced by National Payments Corporation
of India (NPCI), a person can transfer funds, check balance through a normal phone
which was earlier limited only to smart phones so far.
5. Mobile banking for the poor would be available through National Unified USSD Platform
(NUUP) for which all banks and mobile companies have come together

The scheme has been criticized by many experts from the banking sector as an effort to please voters
that has created unnecessary work-burden on the public-sector banks.
The Guinness World Records has recognised the achievements made under the PMJDY and has given a
certificate stating that the most bank accounts opened in one week as part of the Financial Inclusion
Campaign is 18,096,130 and was achieved by the department of financial services, government of India
from Aug 23-Aug 29, 2014.

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1. Mars Orbiter Mission

Mangalyaan is a spacecraft orbiting Mars since 24 September 2014. It was launched on 5 November
2013 by the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO).
It is India's first interplanetary mission and ISRO has become the fourth space agency to reach Mars,
after the Soviet space program, NASA, and the European Space Agency. It is the first Asian nation to
reach Mars orbit, and the first nation to do so on its first attempt.
The Mars Orbiter Mission probe lifted-off from the First Launch Pad at Satish Dhawan Space Centre
(Sriharikota Range SHAR), Andhra Pradesh, using a Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV) rocket C25.

The MOM mission concept began with a feasibility study in 2010, after the launch of lunar satellite
Chandrayaan-1 in 2008. The government of India approved the project on 3 August 2012, after the
Indian Space Research Organisation completed `125 crore (US$20 million) of required studies for the
orbiter. The total project cost may be up to `454 crore (US$71 million). The satellite costs `153 crore
(US$24 million) and the rest of the budget has been attributed to ground stations and relay upgrades
that will be used for other ISRO projects.
The total cost of the mission was approximately `450 Crore (US$73 million), making it the leastexpensive Mars mission to date. The low cost of the mission was ascribed by K. Radhakrishnan, the
chairman of ISRO, to various factors, including a "modular approach", few ground tests and long (18-20
hour) working days for scientists.
Hollywood movie Gravity costed more that MOM and the Total Budget of Mom is equivalent to less
than a single bus ride for each of India's population of 1.2 billion.

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