Daily Current Affairs 17 April 2014


1) Robin Dhowan takes over as new Navy chief: Robin K. Dhowan on Thursday took over as chief of the Indian Navy nearly two months after D.K. Joshi quit the post in the wake of a series of mishaps. Admiral Dhowan, 59, who has been the acting Navy chief since Joshi's exit, has been appointed the Chief of Navy Staff superseding Western Naval Commander Shekhar Sinha. He will have a tenure of 25 months, retiring in May 2016.
Sinha was the senior-most Vice Admiral but he has been edged out of the race, apparently because majority of the 14 mishaps, including two major submarine accidents, took place under his command during the last 10 months.
Joshi, who had 15 months left in service, resigned on February 26 following the mishap involving submarine INS Sindhuratna in which two Navy officers were killed and several others were injured.

2) Fifth phase of the Lok Sabha elections held: Heavy voter turnout marked the fifth phase of the Lok Sabha elections, covering 121 constituencies spread across 12 States. The outcome of the latest phase could decide the shape the new government in May. This round is crucial to both the Bharatiya Janata Party and the Congress as together with their allies, they currently hold 86 of the 121 seats. The States where both the ruling party and the principal Opposition have heavy stakes are Karnataka, where election for all 28 seats was held, and Rajasthan, which saw voting in 20 of its 25 constituencies. Polling was also held for 11 seats in Uttar Pradesh and Odisha, 10 in Madhya Pradesh, seven in Bihar, six in Jharkhand, four in West Bengal, three in Chhattisgarh, and one each in Jammu and Kashmir and Manipur.

3) Microsoft is the most attractive employer in India, finds Randstad survey: Microsoft has won the Randstad Award 2014 for being the 'Most Attractive Employer' for the fourth consecutive year in India, Sony India is the runner-up, while 'special recognition awards' have been given to Larsen & Toubro in the infrastructure sector, State Bank of India in the banking sector, Taj Group of Hotels in the hospitality sector and Tata Power in the energy sector.
The Randstad Award, instituted globally by leading HR services provider, Randstad, aims to encourage best practices for talent attraction and to identify the best 'Employer Brand' in the country based on perceived attractiveness of a company.

4) Union Cabinet approved the appointment of Narendra Kothari as Chairman of NMDC: Union Cabinet on 16 April 2014 approved the appointment of Narendra Kothari as full time Chairman of the state-run miner National Mineral Development Corporation (NMDC). The Appointments Committee of the Cabinet (ACC) headed by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh approved the appointment. NMDC is the biggest iron ore Miner of India. NMDC has been functioning without a full-time chairman and managing director ever since incumbent Rana Som retired in December 2011.

5) ING Vyasa launched m-banking application: ING Vyasa on Wednesday officially announced the launch of itsmobile banking application, which is believes will help drive higher user engagement. Besides features such as checking balance, funds transfer and bill payments, the application offers ability to scan and store cheques issued, lets users buy and send gift vouchers from various brands and ATM branch locater. Customer will require a single channel to access all digital platforms, including mobile and internet banking. The app has been developed in partnership with technology giant IMB, using latter’s Worklight Platform. While the application for Google’sAndroid operating system and Apple’s iOS have been launched, the company said testing is on for the applications for Windows Phone and Blackberry OS’.

6) Orient Electricals is Orient Electric now; name change aimed at new business consolidation plan:  CK Birla group firm Orient Electricals has changed its name to Orient Electric today, as part of its new business consolidation plan. The country's oldest and largest manufacturer of fans, Orient, is making a shift from being a significant player in the domestic fan industry to an integrated home solutions provider of smart home solutions. The company will be consolidating its business verticals like fans, lighting products and home appliances under one umbrella brand Orient Electric.

7) CAG can audit accounts of private telecom companies: SC - The Supreme Court on Thursday upheld the department of telecom's appeal that the comptroller and auditor general of India can audit the accounts of private telecom service providing companies. The apex court held that private companies utilize national wealth, which is spectrum, in providing the cellular and fixed telephone services. So, their profit-loss accounts could be looked into by the CAG, the SC said.

8) World Met Organization announced second world record for Cherrapunji: Cherrapunji has been holding a world record of maximum amount of rainfall in a single year for long. But, now this tiny town of Meghalaya has 'officially' been named for holding second world record, reaffirming it as "one of the wettest places on Earth".

A World Meteorological Organization (WMO) panel on 4 April 2014 announced that "Cherrapunji now holds the world record for two-day (48-hour) rainfall, with 2493 millimeters (98.15 inches) recorded on June 15-16, 1995".

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