Current Affairs: September 30, 2011

IBSF shifts Venue for IBSF World Men’s Snooker Championship from Bahrain to Bangalore

• International Billiards & Snooker Federation (IBSF) declared to shift the venue for IBSF World Men’s Snooker Championship from Bahrain to Bangalore
  
  
• IBSF World Men’s Snooker Championship planned to be held from November 28, 2011 to December 3, 2011
  
• IBSF moved the tournament out of Bahrain and conceded the hosting rights to India owing to lengthened crisis in some parts of Middle East Asia
  

UNICEF: In India 63.8 Crore people practice Open Defecation due to poor Sanitation

• UNICEF as per 2008 data estimated that around 63.8 Crore (i.e. 54% of total population) people in India practice open defecation due to inadequate sanitation
  
• India accounts for 58% of those who practice open defecation across the globe
  
• The 5 States doing well in Sanitation are – Kerala, Sikkim, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh and Maharashtra
  
• Uttar Pradesh alone accounts for 10% of population that suffers on account of inadequate sanitation
  
• Indonesia placed second with 5.7 crore people defecating in the open and it accounts for 5% of the population which still are denied sanitation
  
• China placed third with 5.6 crore people defecating in the open
  
• Ethiopia’s condition is worse than India’s – 60% of its population are put to embarrassment against the 54% in India
  
• Pakistan, Nepal, Bangladesh, Afghanistan and Sri Lanka are also ranked in the list for poor sanitation, but are better than India in giving sanitation to people
  
• The economic blow of insufficient sanitation costs India about Rs. 2.4 trillion or about 6.4% of its GDP. Diarrhoea single-handedly takes 4 Lakh lives per annum, with 90% of it being children
  
• Albeit the miserable state exists, the yearly central budget is only Rs. 2,000 Crore which is just about 2% of the whole budget for Rural Development ~ Rs.1 Lakh crore
  

SEBI’s approval for Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) to set up SME Exchange

• Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) : Asia’s oldest bourse
  
• BSE got an permission to set up an exchange for small and medium enterprises (SMEs) from SEBI
  
• The consent likely to enhance BSE’s efforts in offering multiple asset classes to Indian investors
  
• The consent to establish SME will allow BSE to add towards the Governmental schedule of better financial inclusion and according capable enterprises of the future to entrée retail capital
  
• Companies with less than Rs 10 Crore capital base can now raise money from the primary market following the fresh exchange established by BSE
  
• The fresh exchange will be a catalyst in raising funds for SMEs
  
• At present, National Stock Exchange (NSE), India’s largest exchange, is in anticipation of a formal SEBI authorization to begin a like SME exchange
  
• An in-principle permission for setting up set SME exchanges was given to both BSE and NSE by SEBI in May 2011
  

For Conservation of their Heritages, Bhopal and Maheshwar recognized in MP by France

• French Government recognized Bhopal and Maheshwar for upkeep of their heritages under its Indian Heritage Cities Network
  
• Sadar Manzil, Pari Bazaar and 3 ancient reservoirs – Motia Talab, Siddique Hasan Khan Talab and Munshi Hussain Khan Talab are amongst the heritage buildings of Bhopal , which will be taken up for upkeep and expansion works
  
• These sites will be conserved on the lines of Rheims city (A city in northeastern France to the east of Paris) of France
  

China’s First Unmanned Space Laboratory “Tiangong-1” Successfully Launched by China

• Tiangong-1: China’s first unmanned space laboratory was successfully launched from a site in the Gobi Desert
  
• Tiangong-1 means heavenly palace
  
• China thus became the 3^rd country after Russia and USA to operate a permanent space station
  
• The space lab launched by China likely to be operational by 2020
  
• Tiangong-1 to aid China set up a manned space test platform competent of long term unmanned operation in space with impermanent human attendance
  
• After orbiting for a month on its own, Tiangong-1 to be joined by another spaceship, Shenzhou-8 after which both will then carry out the first space docking
  

Salgaocar defeats East Bengal to win the Federation Cup

• 33^rd Federation Cup: Salgaocar defeated East Bengal 3-1 in the final at the Salt Lake Stadium in Kolkata
  
• Salgaocar thus became the first non-Kolkata club to win the Federation Cup, a premier domestic cup competition in Indian football since Mahindra United in 2005
  

Rajiv Vastupal, Chairman & MD of Rajiv Petrochemicals, elected President of AIMA

• Rajiv Vastupal, Rajiv Petrochemicals’ chairman & managing director was elected president of the All-India Management Association (AIMA)
  
• Established in 1957, AIMA is an autonomous body which plays a proactive role in pooling management thoughts in India
  

GAIL India: First Public Sector Entity to obtain Shale Gas possessions abroad

• India’s largest gas transmission company by volume, GAIL India, a State-run gas utility became the first public sector body and the 2^nd Indian firm after Mukesh Ambani’s RIL to obtain shale gas possessions abroad
  
• GAIL India on 29 September 2011 declared a deal with US based Carrizo Oil & Gas Inc for acquiring a 20% interest in the latter’s Eagle Ford Shale acreage
  
• GAIL became the first State-owned energy company to get a grip in the US market
  

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Month: Current Affairs - September, 2011