Current Affairs Update – 11th May, 2016

Hello and welcome to exampundit. Here are the important Current Affairs of 11th May, 2016. These are important for the upcoming SBI Clerk Mains, SBI PO Mains and UIIC AO 2016.

• The Reserve Bank of India (RBI)
  on 9 May 2016 announced that it will shortly issue 1000 rupees denomination
  banknotes in the Mahatma Gandhi Series – 2005 with the inset letter ‘R’ in both
  the number panels.

• The banknotes will also have on
  the obverse, all the other security features, including ascending size of
  numerals, bleed lines and enlarged identification mark
• It will carry the signature of
  Dr. Raghuram G. Rajan, Governor, Reserve Bank of India on the obverse.
• These banknotes will also have
  the year of printing 2016 printed on the reverse.

• Numerals in both the numbering
  panels of banknotes will be in ascending size from left to right, while the
  first three alpha-numeric characters will remain constant in size.

• The banknotes of 1000 rupees
  banknotes will have six angular bleed lines in four sets of 1-2-2-1 lines on
  the obverse in both, the upper left and right hand edge of the banknotes. These
  will facilitate identification of these notes by visually impaired persons.

• The existing identification mark
  (diamond shape in 1000 rupees) near the left edge of the banknote has been
  enlarged.
• The RBI is committed to
  continually bring about modifications in the design of banknotes with changing
  times.

• India and Mauritius on 10 May
  2016 signed a protocol on taxation at Port Louis, Mauritius. The protocol
  provides for amending the convention for the avoidance of double taxation and
  the prevention of fiscal evasion with respect to taxes on income and capital
  gains
• The Protocol also provides for
  updation of Exchange of Information Article as per international standard,
  provision for assistance in collection of taxes, source-based taxation of other
  income, amongst other changes.

• With this Protocol, India gets
  taxation rights on capital gains. They arise from alienation of shares acquired
  on or after 1 April 2017 in a company resident in India with effect from
  financial year 2017-18. Taxation in India at full domestic tax rate will take
  place from financial year 2019-20 onwards.
• The benefit of 50 percent
  reduction in tax rate during the transition period from 1 April 2017 to 31
  March 2019 shall be subject to LOB Article.
• Interest arising in India to
  Mauritian resident banks will be subject to withholding tax in India at the
  rate of 7.5 percent in respect of debt claims or loans made after 31 March
  2017.

• The Reserve Bank of India (RBI)
  on 10 May 2016 cancelled the certificate of registration of the four
  Non-Banking Financial Companies (NBFCs).
• RBI cancelled their certificates
  in exercise of the powers conferred on it under Section 45-IA (6) of the
  Reserve Bank of India Act, 1934.

1. M/s Neelanjali Engineering
   Private Limited
2. M/s Novoflex Tradecom Private
   Limited
3. M/s Guide Investments and Trading
   Co. Pvt. Ltd
4. M/s Enol Ventures Private Limited

• Indian Navy on 11 May 2016
  decommissioned its fleet of iconic Sea Harriers. This episode of
  decommissioning marked the end of an era in India’s naval history, as the
  country holds an official ceremony phasing out the last of its iconic Sea
  Harrier jets.
• They were replaced with new
  generation MIG-29 K fighters in a ceremony on INS Hansa near Vasco.
• Wing Commander Shikhu Raj, a Sea
  Harrier Pilot himself and the commander of the squadron handed over the command
  of the squadron to Captain KHV Singh in an historic ceremony and bid adieu to
  the Sea Harriers.
• The function was presided over by
  the Chief of Naval Staff Admiral RK Dhowan.

• The Supreme Court on 11 May 2016
  struck down the regulation of Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI)
  which made it mandatory for telecom companies to compensate subscribers for
  call drops from January 2016.
• The court struck the regulation
  calling it as arbitrary, unreasonable and non-transparent.
• The apex bench comprising
  Justices Kurian Joseph and R F Nariman passed the judgement on the appeals
  filed by Cellular Operators Association of India (COAI).
• COAI is a body of Unified Telecom
  Service Providers of India and 21 telecom operators, including Vodafone, Bharti
  Airtel and Reliance, challenging the Delhi High Court.

• Madhya Pradesh Tourism (MPT) on 9
  May 2016 received the Best Indian Destination for Wildlife Award. The award was
  presented by the Lonely Planet Group.
• Actress Amy Jackson presented the
  award to MPT at a function held in Mumbai.
• On behalf of MPT Chairman, his
  Officer on Special Duty (OSD), Vinod Kumar Amar received the award.
• As per the estimates of Forest
  Survey of India published in the State of Forest Report (SFR) 2003, the total
  forest cover of M.P. is 24.79% of the land area.
• One third of the state is
  forested and offers an exciting panorama of wildlife.

• Indian-American elementary
  teacher, Revathi Balakrishnan was honoured by US President Barack Obama at the
  White House in the first week of May 2016. She was named as 2016 Texas Elementary
  Teacher of the Year.
• She received the honour for her
  excellent work in the field of education at Patsy Sommer Elementary School in
  Texas.
• With this honour, she will
  represent Texas in the National Teacher of the Year competition.

• National Technology Day was
  celebrated across India on 11 May 2016. The function on this regard was
  presided over by the President Pranab Mukherjee in Vigyan Bhawan in New Delhi.
• The theme for celebrations of the
  Technology Day 2016 is Technology enablers of Startup India.
• Nation celebrates this day as a
  tribute to our scientists for their numerous accomplishments and innovations
  that have boosted National growth and identity.
• The day commemorates the
  anniversary of first of the five tests of Operation Shakti (Pokhran-II) nuclear
  test which was held on 11 May 1998 in Pokhran, Rajasthan.

• A forthcoming book titled India
  vs Pakistan: Why Can’t we just be Friends? was in the news in the second week
  of May 2016. The book is authored by former Pakistani Ambassador to the U.S.
  Husain Haqqani.
• The book on India-Pakistan
  relations stirred a controversy because it exposed Pakistan’s role in the 26/11
  terror attacks.
• The book recounts the visit by
  ex-ISI chief General Pasha to Washington on 24 and 25 December 2008, where he
  made the startling admission. During the visit, General Pasha had admitted to
  the author that the planners of the 26/11 attacks were “our people” but it was
  not “our operation”.

• The term ‘Social Fridge’ was in
  news in the second week of May 2016 with Argentina adopting it to feed the
  needy ones who are facing the hardship due to increase in job cuts and
  inflation in the country.
• The genesis of ‘social fridge’ or
  ‘solidarity fridge’ lies in the recent economic crisis of Europe during which
  countries like Spain and Germany saw the mushrooming of such fridges.
• It is called so because people
  leave food in outdoor “social fridges” for those who need it. The
  fridges typically stand on the sidewalk outside restaurants.
• As of now some 57 “social fridges”
  are operating in Argentina.

• A group of researchers at the
  Human Media Lab at Queen’s University on 5 May 2016 announced that they have
  developed the world’s first holographic flexible smartphone named HoloFlex.
• The device is capable of
  rendering 3D images with motion parallax and stereoscopy to multiple
  simultaneous users without head tracking or glasses.

• The device features a 1920×1080
  full high-definition Flexible Organic Light Emitting Diode touchscreen display.
• Images are rendered into 12-pixel
  wide circular blocks rendering the full view of the 3D object from a particular
  viewpoint.
• It produces 160 x 104 resolution
  image that allows users to inspect a 3D object from any angle simply by
  rotating the phone

Regards

Team ExamPundit