DAILY GK UPDATE - 12th April

1.    Justice R.M.Lodha to be Next Chief Justice of India

i. President of India on 11 April 2014 appointed Justice Rajendra Mal Lodha as Next Chief Justice of India.

ii. Justice Lodha will take his charge from 27 April 2014. He will be the 41st Chief Justice of India.

iii. He will succeed Justice P. Sathasivam. 

iv. Justice Lodha will have a brief tenure of five months as the Chief Justice of India (CJI). He is scheduled to retire on 27 September 2014. He is 64.

v. Justice Lodha is the senior-most judge of the Supreme Court after CJI P. Sathasivam. The name of Justice Lodha was recommended as the next CJI by Justice Sathasivam.

About Justice Lodha

i. He practiced Law in the Rajasthan High Court and dealt with all branches of law — constitutional, civil, company, criminal, taxation and labour.
ii. He was elevated as a Permanent Judge of the Rajasthan High Court in January 1994. He was transferred to the Bombay High Court where he assumed office in February 1994.

iii. Justice Lodha was transferred back to the Rajasthan High Court in February 2007. He had been the Administrative Judge of the Rajasthan High Court and was chairman of State Judicial Academy.
iv. He was sworn in as Chief Justice of the Patna High Court on 13 May 2008 and elevated as a Judge of the Supreme Court on 17 December 2008.

2.    Gulzar to receive Dadasaheb Phalke Award

i. Veteran poet and film lyricist Gulzar has been chosen for the coveted Dadasaheb Phalke Award for 2013, the ministry of information and broadcasting announced here Saturday.

ii. The multi-faceted Gulzar, whose real name is Sampooran Singh Kalra, is a lyricist, director, screen writer, producer and poet. He is the 45th winner of the Dadasaheb Phalke Award.

iii. The award is conferred by the government for outstanding contribution to the growth and development of Indian cinema.

iv. Born in 1934 in Punjab in pre-independence India, Gulzar started his career in 1956. As a lyricist, he got his first break in Bimal Roy’s “Bandini”.

v. He then worked with leading composers like Sachin Dev Burman, Salil Chowdhury, Shankar-Jaikishan, Hemant Kumar, Laxmikant-Pyarelal, Madan Mohan, Rajesh Roshan, Anu Malik and the new age Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy.

3.    RBI panel proposes measures to make bank loan process hassle-free for customers 

i. Penalty for banks that harass customers by delaying transfer of loans from one to the other, doing away with processing fee for shifting within the same bank from one type to another and an industry benchmark base rate for borrowers are among the recommendations of a central bank panel on pricing of loans to make processes smoother for retail borrowers.
ii. "Indian Banks' Association should evolve a set of guidelines for easier and quicker transfer of loans, particularly mortgage/housing loans," said a report submitted by a panel headed by former deputy governor Anand Sinha. "There could also be penalties for banks which do not cooperate with borrowers in this regard.'' 

iii. Banks will also have to give their customers the choice of prepaying and exiting a loan, if the recommendations of this committee are implemented.
iv. The central bank had set up this committee to bring transparency in credit pricing and address customer complaints relating to downward stickiness of the interest rates, discriminatory treatment of old borrowers vis-a-vis new borrowers and arbitrary changes in spreads. 

4.    India leads global remittances with USD 70 bn in 2013

i. India lead global remittances in the year 2013 with a whopping USD 70 billion in its kitty, of which USD 65 billion were earned from the country's flagship software services exports, the World Bank reported.

ii. India's neighbour China follows second with USD 60 billion, said the World Bank report on Friday, according to which international migrants from developing countries are expected to send USD 436 billion in remittances to their home countries this year, despite more deportations from some host countries. 

iii. In its latest issue of the Migration and Development Brief, the World Bank said this year's remittance flows to developing countries will be an increase of 7.8 percent over the 2013 volume of USD 404 billion, rising to USD 516 billion in 2016. ‘

iv. Global remittances, including those to high-income countries, are estimated at USD 581 billion this year, from USD 542 billion in 2013, rising to USD 681 billion in 2016, the report said. 

v. The bank said growth in remittances to the South Asia region has slowed, rising by a modest 2.3 percent to USD 111 billion in 2013, compared with an average annual increase of more than 13 percent during the previous three years. 

5.    India successfully conducts maiden night test of Agni missile 

i. India successfully conducted maiden night test of its indigenously developed nuclear-capable Agni-I ballistic missile with strike range of 700 km from a test range off Odisha coast on Friday night as part of a user trial by the Army. 

ii. The surface-to-surface, single-stage missile, powered by solid propellants, was test-fired from a mobile launcher at 2310 hours from launch pad-4 of the Integrated Test Range (ITR) at Wheeler Island, about 100 km from here, Defence sources said. 

iii. "The trial was successful and all mission objectives were met," Ravi Kumar Gupta, spokesman of Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO).

iv. The DRDO-developed medium-range ballistic missile from the production lot was launched as part of a regular training exercise by the armed forces, sources said. The Agni-I missile has a specialised navigation system which ensures it reaches the target with a high degree of accuracy and precision, he said. 

6.    Sachin named Mumbai Indians 'ICON' 

i. Defending champions Mumbai Indians on Wednesday named batting great Sachin Tendulkar as their "ICON" ahead of the seventh Indian Premier League beginning in the UAE on 16th April.

ii. Tendulkar was icon player of the Mumbai Indians since the first edition in 2008 before he went on to win the title in his last IPL in 2013. 

iii. "We are very happy to have Sachin as the Mumbai Indians ICON. I am sure the youngsters in the team will be delighted to have him around for guidance, and so would be the Mumbai Indians fans," team owner Nita Ambani said in a statement. 

7.    US slaps more sanctions over Crimea

i. The US has slapped additional sanctions on companies and individuals assisting Russia in its alleged annexation of Crimea, and announced that it will provide a USD 1 billion loan guarantee to the Ukrainian government.

ii. "The US will continue to impose costs on Russia for its illegal and illegitimate occupation of Crimea and, moreover, that we are fully prepared to impose additional significant sanctions on Russia if it continues to escalate the situation in Ukraine," US Treasury Secretary, Jacob Lew, said. 

iii. "Crimea is occupied territory. We will continue to impose costs on those involved in ongoing violations of Ukraine's sovereignty and territorial integrity," Under Secretary for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence David S Cohen, said. 

iv. It is clear from the satellite images released by NATO yesterday that Russia has poised a menacing force near the Ukrainian border as part of its effort to destabilize Ukraine and destroy its chance for independence, self-determination, and democracy," Senator John McCain said. 

8.    Industrial Output dips by 1.9 per cent in February,

i. The Industrial Output in the country declined by 1.9 per cent in February, an all time low since the 2.5 per cent fall in May last year. Exports also dipped by 3.5 per cent during last month. 

ii. The Industrial Output fell on poor consumer demand which led to the weak manufacturing sector.

iii. The slow growth in Industrial production and exports has prompted the industry to demand an immediate rate cut by the Reserve Bank of India to boost economy.

iv. According to the data released by the Government, the Industrial Output, which had shown some signs of recovery in January, again entered the negative territory mainly due to 3.7 per cent contraction in the manufacturing sector.

9.    Sandhu wins gold at Shotgun World Cup

i. Indian shooter Manavjit Singh Sandhu bagged the gold in the trap event by overcoming Australia's two-time Olympic gold medallist Michael Diamond at the ISSF Shotgun World Cup.

ii. Sandhu started Friday with a score of 72 which he shot Thursday. With his consistent performance, he shot 25 and 24 in the remaining two rounds and was ranked third in the qualifying round. His series scores were 24, 25, 23, 25 and 24 in the qualifier.

iii. In the final round, he beat five-time Commonwealth Games gold medallist Diamond by shooting 13 whereas his rival could only shoot 9.

iv. The Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna Awardee also won the 2006 World Championships apart from winnings the gold at the 2010 World Cup in Mexico. The Indian has also won golds at the 2012 Asian Championships and finished second at the Asian Shotgun Championships in Patiala.

v. he double trap event will be conducted April 13-14 where India's Ronjan Sodhi, Modh Asab and Ankur Mittal will participate.

vi. This is the first of the four World Cups of shotgun events held in a year.

10.  Julie Walters to receive BAFTA fellowship

i. Actress Julie Walters is to be feted for her work on the small screen by the British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA). She says she is "shocked".

ii. Walters will receive her Fellowship at the British Academy Television Awards at the Theatre Royal Drury Lane here May 18.

iii. Previous recipients of the BAFTA Fellowship from the TV branch of the Academy include actor David Jason and comedy duo Dawn French and Jennifer Saunders.

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