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"The Red Saree" :- It's a controversial book on Congress President Sonia Gandhi's life by Spanish author Javier Moro that was unofficially banned in India for almost last 7 years and has been released recently.
Explanation: The book, first released in Spain seven years ago, was not available in India as no publisher invested in its English translation, apparently reluctant to take on the Congress, which was in power for 10 years till May 2014. Congress leader Abhishek Manu Singhvi had threatened a lawsuit against the author Moro.
Bhakti Sharma bettered the earlier record of British open water swimmer Lewis Pugh and American swimmer Lynne Cox. She is now the youngest in the world and the first Asian girl to have achieved this feat. She has been pursuing open water swimming for the last 10 years. She has now conquered all the five oceans of the world.
Tourism in Switzerland suddenly became expensive from 16 January 2015. What was the reason for this? - Swiss central bank decided to scrap a cap on the Swiss franc that pushed the currency up nearly 30%
Explanation: Swiss National Bank (SNB), the central bank of Switzerland on 16 January 2015 took the decision to allow the franc to surge. This resulted in around 30% appreciation in its value. This appreciation thus made all utilities and services in the country expensive and it included tourism. Tourism contributes 3% of Swiss GDP and hotels and restaurants employ 5% of the labour force. The price of a six-day ski pass in Verbier, a Swiss resort popular with the Europeans, rose to 347 euros on 16 January , from 296 before the franc's surge. There were reports of some cancellations in Switzerland as visitors rushed to rearrange their plans for the busy winter season.
Mumbai-based RSBL RSBL had imported 550 kg of gold during 2014. According to a RBI circular, this entire quantity should have been re-exported. However, it had shipped back only 350 kg and the remaining 200 kg were supplied to the domestic market, violating NAC norms and the RBI circular. DGFT also cancelled its nominated agency certificate (NAC) for this violation. NAC is the mandatory document for direct import of precious metals.
Country's first CNG-based train was launched on Rewari-Rohtak and Rewari to Bikaner section by the Railway Minister. These trains based on the dual fuel system, diesel and CNG, and will reduce greenhouse gas emission and consumption of diesel. The Indian railway plans to start more such trains on other routes in due course to reduce diesel consumption.
WTO trade deal: India to scuttle inclusion of new issues:-
Ahead of the July 2015 deadline to finalize the work programme for the post-Bali multilateral trade negotiations, India on Friday indicated that it would scuttle any attempt to include new issues in the multilateral trade negotiations. The government made its point as World Trade Organization (WTO) director general Roberto Azevedo sought to assure India that there was no attempt to move away from the mandate of the Doha Development Agenda. Trade minister Nirmala Sitharaman said it was troubling to hear suggestions that development was no longer relevant in debates about multilateral trade.
EU Parliament adopts resolution on Italian marines, India disapproves:-
The European Parliament (Europa) has adopted a resolution asking India to allow the return of two Italian marines accused of killing two Indian fishermen, drawing a sharp reaction from New Delhi which termed the step as not "well advised" as the matter was sub judice. Taking exception to the Europa's decision, India on Friday said the case involving the two Italian marines is sub judice, and is being discussed between India and Italy.
Petrol price cut by Rs2.42 a litre, diesel by Rs2.25; excise hiked.
Cabinet clears Phase III of FM radio auction:-
The cabinet on Friday gave the go-ahead for the third phase of the auction of FM radio channels, expected to earn the government around Rs.550 crore of revenue if all the channels are sold. The auction will add an additional 839 channels across 294 cities. The cabinet also approved the migration (renewal) of private FM radio licences from Phase II to Phase III in 69 existing cities for 135 channels. These channels will have to pay a migration fee that will be calculated by categorizing the cities on the basis of the number of FM channels available there. Radio channel operators welcomed the announcement.
