27th August 2014 - Daily Current Affairs

• UN Chief Ban Ki-Moon has welcomed a long-term ceasefire between the Palestinians and Israel in Gaza and voiced hope that it will act as a "prelude" to a political process aimed at achieving durable peace.
• Facing his toughest test since becoming Pakistan's Prime Minister, a defiant Nawaz Sharif today brushed aside the demand of protesters asking him to quit saying the country has survived "difficult times" and the current political crisis too shall pass.
• A United Nations humanitarian aid convoy crossed into Gaza from Egypt today for the first time since a blockade was introduced on the territory in 2007.

• The Prime Minister, Narendra Modi will formally lunch Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana (PMJDY) on Thursday, 28th August, 2014. Banks are expected to open about 70,000 accounts on the first day of lunch.
• In a bid to defuse the tension between India and Pakistan after repeated ceasefire violations by Pakistani toops along the international border in Jammu sector, the two countries held commander-level flag meeting today. This meeting was held at Nikowal Border Out Post (BOP) in the Akhnoor sector in Jammu and Kashmir.
• Ambassador of Arab Republic of Egypt to India, Khaled El Bakly calls on Vice President, Mohd. Hamid Ansari today.
• Moving ahead with his resolve to weed out archaic rules and procedures as part of reforms process, Prime Minister Narendra Modi today set up a committee to identify "obsolete" laws which he believes hamper governance by creating "avoidable confusion".
• In its quest to seek out-of-the-box solutions to governance-related matters, the government has put up "idea boxes" (which are also called as "vichar petika") inside the power corridors of North Block which houses the ministries of Personnel and Home Affairs among others, inviting ideas from officials and visitors.
• The Cabinet today lifted the monthly cap on subsidized LPG (Liquefied Petroleum Gas) Cylinders, but retained the overall annual limit at 12 cylinders.
• In a landmark verdict the Supreme Court on Wednesday advised the Prime Minister or Chief Minister of a state not to induct charge sheeted persons facing trial for offenses involving moral turpitude as Ministers though there was no limitation or restriction in the Constitution which debars any Member of Parliament or Legislative Assembly being included in the Cabinet.

• Committing to support infrastructure development in India, Asian Development Bank today said it will provide up to $7-9 billion loan to the country over the next three years.
• ADB President - Takehiko Nakao.
• India Post, which has failed to make the cut during the latest round of bank licensing, today said it is still hopeful of converting itself into a post bank and the first step towards this will see 25,000 of its outlets on the core banking platform by FY16.
• The government today notified the liberalized Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) norms for the Railways,permitting 100% FDI through automatic route in several areas, including high speed trains.

• President Pranab Mukherjee today awarded 28 persons, including three journalists and an ISRO scientist for their outstanding contribution towards the development and spread of Hindi Language.
• Shamtorf Azad from Uzbekistan and Woo Jo Kim from South Korea were the two foreign nationals awarded the Dr. George Grierson Award for the spreads of Hindi in foreign lands.