CURRENT AFFAIRS - MAY 2016

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1 [Page No. 1] Appointments of the months CURRENT AFFAIRS - MAY Vice Admiral Sunil Lamba, presently Flag Officer Commanding-in-Chief (FOC-in-C) Western Naval Command, was appointed as the next Chief of the Naval Staff on 5 May He will assume the charge on 31 May 2016 as the 23rd chief of Indian Navy and 21st as an Indian. 2. Senior IPS officer Kumar Rajesh Chandra on 5 May 2016 was appointed the Chief of Bureau of Civil Aviation Security (BCAS). 3. The Government of India ordered setting up National Statistical Commission of India on 1 June 2005 on the recommendation of C. Rangarajan Commission.DR Rdha binod barman took a charge as chairperson 4. Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) CEO and managing director Natarajan Chandrasekaran and two others were appointed as non-official directors to the board of Reserve Bank of India (RBI). The Appointments Committee of the Cabinet (ACC), headed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, has approved appointment of former Chief Secretary of Gujarat Sudhir Mankad as part-time non-official director on the central board of the RBI for a period of four years. Bharat Narotam Doshi, non-executive chairman of Mahindra & Mahindra, is the third parttime non-official director on the central board of the bank. National film awards Baahubali has won the Best Film award at 63rd National Film Award. 2. Amitabh Bachchan won Best actor award for[ Piku] 3. kangana ranuat won best actress award for for [tanu weds manu return] kangana won 3 rd times national award for queen last year and for fashion 4. This is Amitabh Bachchan s the living legend fourth national award in his career. The actor first won a national award for best actor for Agneepath in His next two national award wins happened in 2005 and 2009 for Black and Paa respectively. The agriculture project Harita-Priya of Andhra Pradesh on 3 May 2016 won the World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS) 2016 prize in e-agriculture category. The prize was announced in Geneva by International Telecommunications Union (ITU) Secretary-General Houlin Zhao.

2 News From Reserve Bank Of India [Page No. 2] 1. Reserve Bank of India infuse additional capital Rs 40,000 cr for indian banks 2. The announcement is a big relief for, mainly, public sector banks, after finance minister Arun Jaitley announced in his budget speech a capital infusion of Rs. 25,000 crore for the fiscal year starting in April. 3. The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) will share FDI-related information with the Intelligence Bureau (IB) and Research and Analysis Wing (RAW) to check black money from entering the country. The decision was taken during a meeting of a government group, headed by Revenue Secretary, to check economic crimes. It was decided that the RBI should share with the IB and Cabinet Secretariat, information on FDI, which actually enters the country. 4. The Reserve Bank of India issued revised Framework for Revival and Rehabilitation of Medium, Small and Micro Enterprises (MSMEs) 5. The Reserve Bank has asked banks to pay interest on savings banks account on quarterly basis or shorter duration, a move which will benefit crore of savings account holders. At present, the interest is credited in savings bank account on half-yearly basis. Interest rate on savings bank account is calculated on daily basis since April 1, While public sector banks offer 4 per cent interest on savings deposit, private players offer as much as 6 per cent. News from sports 1. England's world number one Mark Selby on 2 May 2016 won World Championship title of Snooker. In the final match played in Sheffield, Selby from Leicester defeated China s Ding Junhui With this win, Selby also ended Ding s chance of being the first Asian player to win the world title. 2. Leicester City was crowned as champions of English Premier League on 2 May It was crowned with the title without playing, as nearest challenger Tottenham Hotspur had 2-2 draw with Chelsea. The result meant second placed Tottenham will not be able to surpass Leicester City who has a seven point lead at the top of the table. This is the first time in the club s 132-year history that Leicester is champion of England. 3. Leicester City striker forward Jamie Vardy was named Footballer of the Year by the Football Writers Association (FWA). He will be honoured with the prestigious 4. Mercedes Driver Nico Rosberg on 1 May 2016 won 2016 Russian Grand Prix. It is his fourth win in a row this season.

3 [Page No. 3] 5. Indian team on 1 May 2016 bagged one silver and two bronze medals at Archery World Cup at the Yuanshen Stadium in Shanghai. The silver medal was secured by Indian women's team who lost to Chinese Taipei in the final. Women's team comprising Deepika Kumari, Bombayla Devi Laishram and Laxmirani Majhi lost to the lower-ranked Chinese Taipei 2-6 in the recurve team final. On the other hand, men's trio and mixed pair won their respective bronze playoffs in the first stage of Archery World Cup. The third seeded Indian men's recurve team of Atanu Das, Jayanta Talukdar and Mangal Singh Champia thrashed the ninth seed British team 6-0 to bag the bronze medal. Economy 1. International Monetary Fund (IMF) in its April 2016 Regional Economic Outlook for Asia and the Pacific forecast retained India s growth rate at 7.5 percent for the year The IMF report titled Regional Economic Outlook: Asia and Pacific, Building on Asia s Strengths during Turbulent Times said that this growth momentum is expected to be underpinned by private consumption, which has benefited from lower energy prices. It said that India that had a GDP growth rate of 7.3 percent in 2015 will have 7.5 percent growth in 2016 and National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (NABARD) in April 2016 entered into collaboration with German government for a special programme on 'Soil Protection and Rehabilitation for Food Security'. The programme is part of the German government's recently introduced special initiative 'One World, No Hunger' initiative. India is the only country in Asia chosen for this initiative. 3. India on 02 Mar 2016 signed a loan agreement with multilateral lending agency World Bank for $300 million for Madhya Pradesh Higher Education Quality Improvement Project. Department of Economic Affairs Joint Secretary Raj Kumar on behalf of India and World Bank s Country Director Onno Ruhl on behalf of World Bank. 4. Flipkart on 3 March 2016 launched its own digital wallet Flipkart Money that can be used for Flipkart only transactions 5. Airtel M Commerce Services (AMSL), a subsidiary of Bharti Airtel, on 11 April 2016 was granted the first payments bank license from Reserve Bank of India (RBI). RBI s Guidelines for Licensing of Payments Banks The Payments Bank will be set up as a differentiated bank and shall confine its activities to acceptance of demand deposits, remittance services, internet banking and other specified services, as per RBI notification.

4 [Page No. 4] Payments Banks will initially be restricted to holding a maximum balance of 1 lakh rupees per individual customer. They will be allowed to issue ATM/debit cards as also other prepaid payment instruments, but not the credit cards. These banks can also distribute non-risk sharing simple financial products like mutual funds and insurance products. They will not be allowed to undertake lending services and non resident Indians will not be allowed to open accounts. 6. The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on 5 April 2016 released first Bi-Monthly Monetary Policy Statement One of the key announcements under the policy was reduction in the repo rate at which RBI lends to the financial system. Based on the assessment of the current and evolving macroeconomic situation, the following changes were announced in key policy rates Repo Rate: Reduced Repo rate under Liquidity Adjustment Facility (LAF) by 25 basis points from 6.75 percent to 6.50 percent Reverse Repo Rate under the LAF: Stands adjusted to 6.0 percent Cash Reserve Ratio (CRR): Kept unchanged at 4.0 percent of net demand and time liabilities (NDTL) Marginal standing facility (MSF) Rate: 7.0 percent Bank Rate: The Bank Rate which is aligned to the MSF rate also stands adjusted to 7.0 per cent. 7. The Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion (DIPP) on 29 March 2016 notified Guidelines for 100 percent Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) in Business to Business (B2B) e- commerce. E-commerce means buying and selling of goods and services including digital products over digital and electronic network. 100 percent FDI under automatic route is permitted in marketplace model of e-commerce. 8. Myanmar has granted operating licences to four Asian banks, bringing the number of foreign banks allowed to conduct business in the previously isolated country to 13. Bank for Investment and Development of Vietnam, State Bank of India, Taiwan's Sun Commercial Bank and South Korea's Shinhan Bank were granted preliminary licenses, Myanmar's Foreign Bank Licensing Committee said in a statement. India s largest lender State Bank of India (SBI) has been granted preliminary approval to operate Myanmar.

5 [Page No. 5] 9. Six or more anchor banks likely to lead consolidation The government will identify six to ten public sector banks which will drive the consolidation process among the state-owned banks, according to bankers. Called the anchor banks, they will be identified by October 31, Large lenders like State Bank of India (SBI), Bank of Baroda (BoB), Punjab National Bank (PNB) and Canara Bank could become the anchor banks. The government will set up an expert panel for the consolidation process. The Bank Board Bureau headed by former Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) Vinod Rai, which was recently formed to select chief executives and board members of public sector banks, will also help in the consolidation process. 10. State Bank of India has entered into a partnership with Uber to provide vehicle finance for driver-partners on the latter s platform 11. State Bank of India on 14 Mar 2016 released arrears worth Rs 1,465 crore to 7.75 lakh defence pensioners under One Rank One Pension (OROP) scheme 12. Private lender Yes Bank on 08 Mar 2016 launched an all-women operated bank branch Yes Grace on Cunningham Road here aimed at offering customised banking solutions to women. There is no restriction in the customer base as we serve male customers as well 13. Banks have so far disbursed over Rs 1.15 lakh crore under Pradhan Mantri MUDRA Yojana (PMMY). Under PMMY, loans between Rs 50,000 and Rs 10 lakh are provided to small entrepreneurs. The scheme- Micro Units Development and Refinance Agency Ltd (MUDRA) was launched by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in April last year. Three products available under the PMMY are Shishu, Kishor and Tarun, to signify the stage of growth and funding needs of the beneficiary micro unit or entrepreneur. Shishu covers loans of up to Rs 50,000 while Kishor covers those above Rs 50,000 and up to Rs 5 lakh. Tarun category provides loans of above Rs 5 lakh and up to Rs 10 lakh Committee On Different Sectors 1. H.R. Nagendra Committee on Yoga Education in Universities has recommended seven programmes for implementation in universities. The Union Government on 15 January 2016 had constituted a committee on yoga education in universities. The committee was headed by Professor H.R. Nagendra, Quiz on banking / GA and computer 1 WTO was established on? (a) 01 January 1972 (b) 01 January 1910 (c) 01 January 1990 (d) 01 January 1946 (e) 01 January 1995