Current Affairs 23rd May 2014

Current Affairs 23rd May 2014

Updated : 24-May-2014

Current Affairs 23rd May 2014 - Important Points
Current Affairs 23rd May 2014 - Details
AFD extended 100 million euro Line of Credit to IREDA
As per Ministry of New and Renewable Energy release on 22nd May 2014, The Agence Francaise de Developpement (AFD) is extending a Line of Credit (LoC) of Euro 100 million to M/s Indian Renewable Energy Development Agency Ltd. (IREDA) to be utilized for financing Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency projects in India. The said Line of Credit is being extended for a tenure of 15 years and without any guarantee from Government of India.

Agreement for availing the LoC of Euro 100 million from AFD, was signed by Shri K S Popli, Chairman and Managing Director, IREDA and Mrs Aude Flogny - Director of AFD’s Regional Office in New Delhi in the presence of Senior officials of MNRE & IREDA.
Developing renewable energy sources helps address environmental concerns and also improves energy security and spurs regional economic development. The agreement signed today will help in supporting the Government of India’s focus on a low carbon growth strategy for power generation in India.
IREDA is a dedicated financing institution for financing RE projects under the aegis of Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE). It has till date disbursed more than Rs 14,550 crores for RE projects and has total loan portfolio of over Rs. 8200 crores. IREDA has been raising resources from various bilateral / multilateral agencies as also from domestic sources through both taxable and tax-free bonds for providing long term finance on competitive terms and conditions.
Former IB chief Rajiv Mathur became new Chief Information Commissioner
On 22nd May 2014, the former Intelligence Bureau Chief Mr. Rajiv Mathur (64) took over as the new Chief Information Commissioner (CIC). President of India Shri Pranab Mukherjee administered his oath to the office at Rashtrapati Bhavan in New Delhi.
His name was recommended by a three-member selection panel headed by Manmohan Singh, the outgoing Prime Minister of India.
Mr. Rajiv Mathur succeeded Sushma Singh who demitted the post of CIC on 21 May 2014. She was the fifth CIC of the Central Information Commission.

Mr. Rajiv Mathur served Intelligence Bureau for two-year from 31 December 2008 and during the tenure he revamped the intelligence set up and raised the quality of intelligence gathering and sharing procedures.
Navies of India and Singapore started SIMBEX 14
The 2014 edition of the "SIMBEX 14" series of annual bilateral naval exercises between the Indian Navy (IN) and the Republic of Singapore Navy (RSN), is being conducted in the Andaman Sea from 22 May to 28 May 14. Hosted by Indian Navy, SIMBEX 14 will be the 21st in the series, designed to enhance inter-operability and mutual understanding between the two navies.
Bilateral Naval cooperation between the two navies was first formalised when Republic of Singapore Navy ships began training in Anti-Submarine Warfare (ASW) with the Indian Navy in 1994. SIMBEX is an acronym for "Singapore Indian Maritime Bilateral Exercise". Since its inception in 1993, SIMBEX has grown in tactical and operational complexity. It has transcended the traditional emphasis on Anti-Submarine Warfare (ASW) to more complex maritime exercises, involving various facets of naval operations like Air Defence, Air and Surface practice firing, Maritime Security and Search and Rescue Operations. Both navies derive considerable value form the conduct of SIMBEX. Inter-operability between the two navies has matured to a point where Standard Operating Procedures for the conduct of exercise have been formalised.
World Turtle Day observed across the globe on 23rd May
World Turtle Day 2014 was observed across the world on 23 May 2014. The day is observed to bring human attention towards turtle and tortoise and also to encourage human efforts to help them survive.
American Tortoise Rescue (ATR) started observing the World Turtle Day in 1990 and since then the world is observing the day, annually.
Do you know ?
Turtles are considered to be the oldest living species (approx 200 million years old) in the world and these ancient creatures evolved before the mammals, birds, snakes or lizards.
RBI extends loan tenure for exporters to 10 years
The Reserve Bank of India on 21 May 2014 allowed banks to provide loans to exporters with tenures of up to 10 years.

RBI gave the permission to banks to allow only those exporters who have a minimum of three years satisfactory track record to receive long term export advance up to a maximum tenure of ten years. It will be utilized for execution of long-term supply contracts for export of goods.
Gujarat's "Rani ki Vav" monument to be digitally recreated in UK
One of Gujarat's monuments - Rani ki Vav (The Queen's Stepwell) - is among five international heritage sites to be replicated digitally using latest technology in Scotland. It is part of a project called The Scottish Ten - an ambitious five-year-programme to create accurate digital models of Scotland's five Unesco-designated World Heritage Sites and five international heritage sites in order to better conserve and manage them.
Besides, the above international sites, the project also include five heritage sites of Scotland. These are Neolithic Orkney, Antonine Wall, the Old and New Towns of Edinburgh, New Lanark cotton mill complex and the island of St Kilda.
Rani ki Vav is a famous stepwell situated in Patan town in Gujarat in India.Patan was called as Anhilpur Patan when King Siddharja Jaysingh was ruling & it was the capital of Gujarat. Rani ki Vav was built in between 1022-1063 AD.