25th August 2014 - Daily Current Affairs

• The "Pradhan Manrei Jan Dhan Yojana", an ambitious financial inclusion scheme under which the government intends to provide every household with a bank account and insurance cover, will be launched on 28 August by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
• The Supreme Court today declared that all coal mining rights distributed between 1993 and 2010 were assigned illegally by the government in a process that lacked transparency in the absence of a competitive bidding system.
• The Supreme Court today declined to entertain petitions challenging the 121st constitutional amendment and the National Judicial Appointment Commission (NJAC) bill, saying they are "premature" but allowed the petitioners to approach the court at a later stage.
• Government will soon notify new rules for modifiying mandate of Lokpal search committee, tasked with recommending names for appointment of chairperson and members of the anti-corruption body.
• After bagging four National Awards this year, Bengali film "Jaatishwar" is set to compete with eight other films for India's official entry at the Oscars.

• External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj met the Vietnam President Truong Tan Sang Today. She discussed many subjects with Sang, including defense relations, commercial activities and cultural programmers.
• India and Vietnam decide to deepen cooperation in defense, trade and security.
• UK Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg today met Modi and discussed a wide range of issues, including energy and WTO talks. In this meeting he conveyed the Britain's desire.

• Britain expressed desire to work with India in realizing the new government's goal of economic and social transformation as Prime Minister Narendra Modi favored greater collaboration in areas like clean energy, infrastructure development and cleaning of rivers.

• The Finance Ministry today said it is considering bifurcation of the post of chairman and managing director (CMD) in public sector (PSU) banks to strengthen corporate governance in the light of recent cases of corruption.
• Important Points to Note:-
• Financial services secretary - G.S. Sandhu
• Finance Minister - Arun Jaitley.
• For unfair business practices in the spare parts market. These companies include Maruti, Competition Commission slaps Rs. 2,545 Crore penalty on 14 Car makers Ford, Tata Motors, M&M, Nissan, Hindustan Motors, BMW and Mercedes-Benz.

• Oscar winning Director and Actor, "Gandhi" filmmaker Richard Attenborough Passes away at 90 years.

• "Men On My Mind", More Men On My Mind" wirtten by Radha Thomas.