Day To Day Current Affairs - 24th October 2014

Day To Day Current Affairs - 24th October 2014

1.    China launches AIIB to rival World Bank

i. Australia, Indonesia and South Korea skipped the launch of a China-backed Asian infrastructure bank on Friday as the United States said it had concerns about the new rival to Western-dominated multilateral lenders.

ii. China's $ 50 billion Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) is seen as a challenge to the World Bank and Asian Development Bank, both multilateral lenders that count Washington and its allies as their biggest financial backers.

iii. China, which is keen to extend its influence in the region, has limited voting power over these existing banks despite being the world's second-largest economy.

iv. The AIIB, launched in Beijing at a ceremony attended by Chinese finance minister Lou Jiwei and delegates from 21 countries including India, Thailand and Malaysia, aims to give project loans to developing nations. China is set to be its largest shareholder with a stake of up to 50 percent.

v. Indonesia was not present and neither were South Korea and Australia, according to a pool report.

vi. Japan, China's main rival in Asia and which dominates the $ 164 billion Asian Development Bank along with the United States, was also not present, but it was not expected to be.

2.    EU doubles assistance to combat Ebola to 1 bn euros 

i. The European Union has nearly doubled its assistance to combat the raging Ebola virus in West Africa to 1 billion euros. 

ii. The heads of state and government of the 28-nation bloc agreed upon the move at their two-day summit concluded in Brussels on Friday. 
iii. "EU member nations pledged at the meting to increase their financial assistance to continue to provide emergency assistance for the population affected by the Ebola epidemic and to support a "sustained, coordinated and increased" effort to curb the spread of the deadly virus," a joint statement said. 
iv. Before providing 1 billion euros (USD 1.26 billion), EU leaders had pledged nearly 600 million euros to pay for medical staff and facilities in the worst affected countries - Liberia, Sierra Leone and Guinea, where some 4,900 people have died of the disease. 

3.    Pankaj Advani won World Billiards Point Format Championship

i.Ace Indian cueist Pankaj Advani won World Billiards Point Format Championship on 24 October 2014.

ii. In the title clash played at Leeds, United Kingdom, Advani outplayed Singapore’s Peter Gilchrist, 6-2.

iii. Advani, who trailed 1-2, won five frames on the trot to regain the title, he had last won in 2012. This was Advani’s 11th World title and third of the year in different formats of the game. 

Three titles won by Advani in 2014 are

 i. IBSF World 6-Red Snooker title
ii. World Team Billiards title 
iii. World Billiards Championship (point format)

4.    Services sector FDI dips 9% to $1.08 bn in April-Aug

i. Foreign direct investment in the services sector dipped by 9 per cent to USD 1.08 billion during the April-August period of the ongoing fiscal.

ii. The services sector, which includes banking, insurance, outsourcing, R&D, courier and technology testing, had received FDI worth USD 1.19 billion during the first five months of the previous fiscal, 2013-14, according to the data by Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion.

iii. The services sector contributes over 60 per cent to India’s GDP. In 2013-14, foreign investment in the sector fell to USD 2.2 billion from USD 4.83 billion in 2012-13.

iv. Foreign investments are considered crucial for India, which needs around USD 1 trillion over five years (2012-17) to overhaul its infrastructure sector such as ports, airports and highways to boost growth.

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