Current affairsm

1.    Yuvraj, Gambhir out of World Cup 2015

i. Chinaman bowler Kuldeep Yadav has been included in the 30 probables for the ICC Cricket World Cup to be held in Australia and New Zealand from February 14 to March 29, 2015.

ii. The team does not have a single left arm seamer. The unlucky one to miss the probables group is Madhya Pradesh wicket-keeper-batsman Naman Ojha. Karnataka seamer R. Vinay Kumar has not been selected.

iii. The selectors more or less maintained the team which played against West Indies and Sri Lanka in the recently concluded ODI series.

iv. The prominent players to miss out the list are: Virender Sehwag, Zaheer Khan, Gautam Gambhir, Harbhajan Singh and the man-of-the-series in the 2011 World Cup Yuvraj Singh.

v. Of all the players ignored, Yuvraj’s journey has been the most dramatic. The left-handed batsman was named Player of the Tournament for his fantastic run in the 2011 World Cup but his career took a hit after he had to undergo treatment for rare form of germ cell cancer between his lungs.

vi. Apart from Dhoni, the list has two wicketkeepers in Wriddhiman Saha and young Sanju Samson, who has also impressed with his batting in the domestic arena.

vii. Cheteshwar Pujara, who is regarded a Test specialist, Pragyan Ojha, Dinesh Karthik and Naman Ojha were among the other notable omissions.

viii. Murali Vijay, Ambati Rayudu and Robin Uthappa, who have been in and out of the national squad in recent times have also found a place in the probables list.

 

The following is the list of probables:

MS Dhoni, Shikhar Dhawan, Rohit Sharma, Ajinkya Rahane, Robin Uthappa, Virat Kohli, Suresh Raina, Ambati Rayudu, Kedar Jadhav, Manoj Tiwary, Manish Pandey, Wriddhiman Saha, Sanju Samson, R Ashwin, Parvez Rasool, Karn Sharma, Amit Mishra, Ravindra Jadeja, Axar Patel, Ishant Sharma, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Mohd Shami, Umesh Yadav, V Aaron, Dhawal Kulkarni, Stuart Binny, Mohit Sharma, Ashoke Dinda, Kuldeep Yadav and Murali Vijay.

 

2.    Canara Bank wins trophy

i. Canara Bank has been conferred with the Niryat Bandhu Silver Trophy in the in the banks category for its support services rendered for promotion of exports.

ii. President Pranab Mukherjee handed over the trophy to Canara Bank Executive Director VS Krishna Kumar in Delhi on Tuesday.

iii. The Bank has been giving thrust to exports sector along with other priority sector lending. The bank’s export credit outstanding stood at Rs11,546 crore as of September 30, 2014.

 

3.    India celebrates 43rd Navy Day; President, PM salute devotion of Navy personnel

i. India is celebrating 43rd Navy Day today. President Pranab Mukherjee and Prime Minister Narendra Modi have saluted Navy Personnel .

ii. President Pranab Mukherjee has extended his greetings to all members of the Indian Navy and their families on the occasion of Navy Day.

iii. In his message, Mr Mukherjee said, the current geo-strategic environment has enhanced the role and responsibilities of the Indian Navy in protecting the nation’s maritime interests.

 

4.    Union Finance Ministry constituted High Level Committee to hear industry's tax issues

i. The Union Finance Ministry on 3 December 2014 constituted a High Level Committee (HLC) to interact with trade and industry on tax-related issues on a regular basis. The high level committee will be headed by former Chief Economic Advisor (CEA) Ashok Lahiri.

ii. Other two members of the committee are Sidhartha Pradhan, retired member of the Settlement Commission (Income Tax and Wealth Tax) and Gautam Ray, retired DG (Audit) of the Customs and Central Excise.

iii. The High Level Committee will interact with trade and industry on regular basis and ascertain areas where clarity in tax laws is required.
iv.  The HLC will give recommendations to the Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) and the Central Board of Excise and Customs (CBEC) for issuance of appropriate clarifications by way of circulars, instructions on tax issues.

 

5.    Justice Krishna Iyer passes away

i. Eminent jurist and former Supreme Court judge, Justice V. R. Krishna Iyer, passed away at a private hospital in Kochi around 3.30 p.m. on Thursday. He died due to renal and cardiac failure, hospital sources said. He was hospitalised for a fortnight.

ii. Justice Iyer, known for his forthright views, turned 100 recently. He was sworn in as the judge of the Supreme Court on July 17, 1973 and retired at the age of 65 on Nov.14, 1980.

 

6.    Prince of Gujarat: The Extraordinary Story of Prince Gopaldas Desai released

i. Book titled Prince of Gujarat: The Extraordinary Story of Prince Gopaldas Desai (1887-1951) authored by Rajmohan Gandhi was released on 7 November 2014. 

ii. In this biography, author Rajmohan Gandhi has used letters, raredocuments, personal accounts and historical narratives in the book and tried to recreate vivid and moving detail of life and times of a leader of supreme honesty and unalloyed patriotism who also battled against the hierarchies of Indian society.

 

7.    India, Japan to cooperate in Cyber security & Green ICT

i. India and Japan will cooperate in the fields of Cyber security and Green Information and Communication Technology, ICT.

ii. The two countries announced the decision in a statement following Joint Working Group Meeting in New Delhi today.

iii. India and Japan will also cooperate in disaster management and detection of symptoms and quick response to cyber attacks.

iv. The two countries decided to further discuss development of standards in the field of Information and Communication Technology for future cooperation.

v. India has also offered Japan to manufacture ICT equipment in India.

 

8.    Govt officials, HDIL chairman booked for irregularities in Bandra slum rehabilitation project

i. An FIR has been registered against two senior bureaucrats and HDIL Group chairman in connection with alleged irregularities in a slum redevelopment project in suburban Bandra. Maharashtra’s Anti-Corruption Bureau has booked Principle Secretary (Housing) Debashish Chakrabarty and Principal Secretary (Woman and Child Development) Ujjwal Uke along with HDIL’s ten directors in the case. 

ii. The complainant in this case owned a commercial space at the Motilal Nehru Nagar. After the plot was redeveloped under Slum Rehabilitation Authority scheme by HDIL in 2005-2006, he was deliberately declared ineligible for allotment of a shop.

 

9.    East Zone lifts Deodhar Trophy

i. East Zone has won the Deodhar Trophy cricket tournament, beating West Zone by 24 runs.

ii. In the final at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai yesterday, East Zone won the toss and opted to bat first.

iii. They compiled 269 for 8 in the stipulated 50 overs, courtesy half centuries by skipper Manoj Tiwary, Virat Singh and Biplab Samantray. Manoj Tiwary top scored with 75.
iv. In reply, Kedar Jadhav's 97 went in vain as West Zone were bundled out for 245 in 47.2 overs. Pacer Ashok Dinda bagged 4 wickets and was adjudged man of the match.

 

10.  India's Ravi in ICC panel of umpires for World Cup

i. Indian umpire S Ravi was on Wednesday named in a 25-member list of match officials for next year's ICC ODI World Cup in Australia and New Zealand.

ii. "The team includes five officials from the Emirates Elite Panel of ICC Match Referees, 12 umpires from the Emirates Elite Panel of ICC Umpires and eight umpires from the Emirates International Panel of ICC Umpires," the ICC said in a statement.
iii. The match referees are David Boon, Chris Broad, Jeff Crowe, Ranjan Madugalle and Roshan Mahanama.
iv. The elite panel umpires in the list are Aleem Dar, Billy Bowden, Bruce Oxenford, Ian Gould, Kumar Dharmasena, Marais Erasmus, Nigel Llong, Paul Reiffel, Richard Illingworth, Richard Kettleborough, Rod Tucker and Steve Davis.