Daily GK Update 26 June 2014

1.    Mustafa Kamal appointed New ICC President

i. AHM Mustafa Kamal has become the first from Bangladesh to be president of International Cricket Council (ICC).

ii. He was elected as the 11th president of the governing body at the ICC annual conference in Australia’s Melbourne on Thursday. Bangladesh was given the status of a Test playing nation on the same day 14 year ago.

iii. “The people of Bangladesh love cricket. Cricket is their inspiration,” Mustafa Kamal said in an instant reaction. He expressed his gratitude to the people of Bangladesh for their support.

iv. Kamal who served as vice-president of ICC and president of Asian Cricket Council, said : “I am eagerly looking forward to working with the ICC board and management for 12 months,” he said.

2.    N Srinivasan appointed first chairman of ICC

i. President-in-exile N Srinivasan was on Thursday formally appointed the first Chairman of the ICC after its 52-member council approved a controversial revamp of the body's administrative structure.

ii. The full council approved the amendments to the ICC's Memorandum and Articles of Association at the Annual Conference, in Melbourne.

iii. Srinivasan has been elected the Chairman after the Indian Supreme court refused to stop his nomination to the ICC position. He has been barred by the apex Court from carrying out his duties as BCCI President due to ongoing investigations into the match-fixing allegations in the 2013 edition of the IPL.
iv. The ICC Council also approved the revamp of the administrative structure of the apex cricket body. The revamp will allow major executive decision-making authority to the 'Big Three' of the game -- India, Australia and England. 

3.    Chung Hung Won retained as PM of S Korea

i. Chung Hung Won was retained as Prime Minster of South Korea. The President of South Korea, Park Geun-Hye announced the decision to retain the Chung Hung Won who had resigned over ferry disaster in April 2014.

ii. Chung Hong-Won resigned as Prime Minister on 27 April 2014 taking the responsibility of government’s inability and untimely response to the ferry disaster. President Park accepted the resignation and asked him to remain in the job until new Prime Minister was found.

4.    UNCTAD released World Investment Report 2014

i. United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) released its World Investment Report 2014.

ii. The Report reveals an encouraging trend: after a decline in 2012, global foreign direct investment flows rose by 9 per cent in 2013, with growth expected to continue in the years to come.

Main Highlights of the Report

i. After the 2012 slump, global FDI returned to growth, with inflows rising 9 percent in 2013, to 1.45 trillion dollars.

ii. UNCTAD projects that FDI flows could rise to 1.6 trillion dollars in 2014, 1.7 trillion dollars in 2015 and 1.8 trillion dollars in 2016, with relatively larger increases in developed countries.

iii. FDI flows to developed countries increased by 9 percent to 566 billion dollars, leaving them at 39 per cent of global flows

iv. FDI flows to developing economies reached a new high of 778 billion dollars, or 54 per cent of the total.

v. The balance of 108 billion dollars went to transition economies.

vi. Developing and transition economies now constitute half of the top 20 ranked by FDI inflows.

5.    Netherlands win seventh title in women's World Cup hockey

i. Olympic gold medallists The Netherlands defeated Australia 2-0 in the title showdown to clinch the women's hockey World Cup at the Kyocera Stadium in The Hague.

ii. This was the fourth time these two nations met in the women's World Cup title encounter, and The Netherlands have won three of them. 
iii. Out of 13 women's World Cups since its inception in 1974, the Dutch have won it seven times. 
iv. The Netherlands won both the men and women's hockey World Cups in 1990, when they were held in different countries. 
v. On the only occasion that the men and women's World Cups were held together in the Dutch city of Utrecht in 1998 The Netherlands men won the title, but the women were beaten by Australia. 

6.    Dipika -Joshana win women's doubles title in Malaysia

i. India bagged its second title at the Tri-Nation squash doubles tournament in Kuala Lumpur on Thursday when Dipika Pallikal and Joshana Chinappa emerged winners in the women's doubles final.

ii. Pallikal and Joshana rallied to beat New Zealand's Joelle King and Amanda Landers Murphy 8-11, 11-5, 11-1 at the National Squash Centre. 
iii. Hosts Malaysia was the the other country to participate in the three-day event, seen as a warm-up to the next month's Commonwealth Games. 

7.    B Ashok New IOC Chairman

i. Petroleum Minister Dharmendra Pradhan has approved appointment of B Ashok as the head of India's largest oil firm, IOC, in what will be the first top level appointment by the new government.

ii. Ashok, 57, was to succeed R S Butola who retired from service on May 31 on attaining superannuation age of 60 years. Since a full-time chairman was not appointed in time, R K Malhotra, Director (R&D) and senior most director on IOC board, has been given additional charge for the time-being. 

8.    A.K. Dubey appointed as Chairman of Coal India Limited

i. A.K. Dubey was appointed as Chairman of Coal India Limited with immediate effect. He will serve his post as an additional charge till a full-time chairman is appointed. 

ii. He will serve as the Chairman for a period of three months until the new chairman of the state-owned company is duly appointed.

About Coal India Limited: Coal India Limited is an Indian state-controlled coal mining company headquartered in Kolkata, West Bengal, India. It is a Navratna company and is the largest coal producer company in the world and contributes around 81% of the coal production in India.

9.    Indian-origin judge V K Rajah appointed as 8th Attorney-General of Singapore

i. Indian-origin judge V K Rajah was appointed as 8th Attorney-General of Singapore. President of Singapore Tony Tan Keng Yam presided at the swearing-in of Justice V K Rajah.

ii. He will succeed Steven Chong. Steven Chong will return to the Supreme Court.

iii. VK Rajah was also appointed as a member of the Presidential Council for Minority Rights for a three-year term. 17-member council reports on matters, including Bills or other legislation.

10.  Maharashtra State Cabinet approved reservation for Marathas and Muslims in the State

i. State Cabinet of Maharashtra approved 16 percent reservation to Maratha community and 5 percent to Muslims in government jobs and educational institutions. 
ii. The reservation is applicable only for non-creamy layer of these communities and will be implemented immediately. This decision will not affect the existing 52 percent reservation in the State and with this the overall reservation has now increased to 73 percent.

Note: Andhra Pradesh was the first State to provide 4% reservation to Muslims in 2007 which was later quashed down by the respectable High Court terming it is unsustainable and violative of Article 14, 15(1) and 16 (2) of the Constitution.