Current Affairs Update – 1st September, 2016

• The Union Cabinet on 31 August
  2016 approved simplification and liberalisation of the Foreign Direct
  Investment (FDI) Policy, 2016 in various sectors. These radical changes in FDI
  regime were introduced by the Union Government on 20 June 2016.
• The FDI policy amendments are
  aimed at providing ease of doing business in the country leading to larger FDI
  inflows contributing to growth of investment, incomes and employment. 

• Radical Changes for promoting Food Products manufactured/produced in
  India: To permit 100 percent FDI under government approval route for
  trading in respect of food products manufactured in India.
• FDI in Defence Sector up to 100%: FDI beyond 49% has been permitted
  through government approval route, in cases resulting in access to modern
  technology. FDI limit for defence sector has also been made applicable to
  Manufacturing of Small Arms and Ammunitions covered under Arms Act, 1959.
• Review of Entry Routes in Broadcasting Carriage Services: 100
  percent FDI allowed under automatic route for Teleports, Direct to Home, Cable
  Networks and Mobile TV. Moreover, infusion of FDI beyond 49% in a company not
  seeking permission from Ministry will result in change in the ownership
  pattern.
• Pharmaceutical Sector: 100% FDI under automatic route in Greenfield
  pharma, FDI up to 100% under government approval in Brownfield pharma and 74%
  FDI under automatic route in Brownfield pharmaceuticals.
• Civil Aviation Sector:  To
  permit 100% FDI under automatic route in Brownfield Airport projects. In
  Scheduled Air Transport Service and regional Air Transport Service, it has now
  been decided to raise FDI limit to 100%. For NRIs, 100% FDI will continue to be
  allowed under automatic route.
• Private Security Agencies: FDI up to 49% is now permitted under
  automatic route in this sector and FDI beyond 49% and up to 74% would be
  permitted with government approval route.
• Establishment of branch office, liaison office or project office:
  No approval from Reserve Bank of India or separate security clearance would be
  required in cases where FIPB approval or license/permission by the concerned
  Ministry has already been granted.
• Animal Husbandry: It has been decided to do away with the
  requirement of controlled conditions for FDI in Animal Husbandry, Pisciculture,
  Aquaculture and Apiculture.
• Single Brand Retail Trading: It has been decided to relax local
  sourcing norms up to three years and a relaxed sourcing regime for entities
  undertaking Single Brand Retail Trading of products having cutting edge
  technology.

• Dena Bank has signed a Memorandum
  of Understanding (MoU) with Mahila Arthik Vikas Mahamandal (MAVIM) whereby the
  bank will provide loans to a Maharashtra-based women centric development body
  to finance various self help groups (SHGs). As per the MoU, MAVIM will
  co-ordinate with the bank and community managed resource centres (CMRCs) and
  act as a business facilitator.
• The bank will initially implement
  the scheme in Nashik, Nandurbar, Jalgaon, Dhule, Aurangabad, Kolhapur, Satara,
  Pune, Sangali, Ahmednagar Parbhani and Jalna districts of Maharashtra on pilot
  basis. MAVIM will organize poor people to form women SHGs, impart financial
  literacy training and guide them to mobilize their saving, setting up linkages
  between the groups and the bank.
• Dena Bank is engaged in providing
  banking services. Its services include treasury, corporate/wholesale banking,
  retail banking, mobile banking, phone banking, internet banking, international
  banking, dena automated teller machine (ATM) services and visa bill pay etc.

• With an aim to boost regional air
  connectivity by developing small airports and airstrips in the state thereby
  attracting domestic airlines, the Gujarat government on Thursday signed an MoU
  with the Ministry of Civil Aviation under the Regional Connectivity Scheme
  (RCS).
• The Memorandum of Understanding
  (MoU) was signed here in presence of Union Civil Aviation Minister Ashok
  Gajapathi Raju and Gujarat Chief Minister Vijay Rupani.
• With this, Gujarat has become the
  third state after Maharashtra and Jharkhand to have signed such agreement with
  the Centre to boost regional connectivity.
• As per the agreement signed
  between both the parties, 11 airports/airstrips in Gujarat will be developed as
  per RCS scheme of the Ministry of Civil Aviation, said Raju after meeting
  Rupani.
• These 11 airports/airstrips
  include Bhavnagar, Bhuj, Jamnagar, Surat, Porbandar, Mehsana, Mandvi, Amreli,
  Kandla, Keshod and Deesa.

• State-run cybersecurity bodies of
  India and the UK have signed a Memorandum of Understanding for close
  cooperation on counter cyberattacks these countries face.
• “The Union Cabinet under the
  chairmanship of Prime Minister Narendra Modi has been apprised of the MoU
  signed on May 20, 2016, between Indian Computer Emergency Response Team
  (CERT-In) and Ministry of Cabinet Office, UK, as represented by CERT-UK, a unit
  of the Cabinet Office on Cyber Security,” an official statement today
  said.
• The MoU intends to promote closer
  cooperation between India and the UK for exchange of knowledge and experience
  in detection, resolution and prevention of security-related incidents, it
  added.
• With this MoU, participating
  countries can exchange technical information on cyberattacks , response to
  cybersecurity incidents and find solutions to counter the cyber attacks. This
  MoU helps to strengthen cyber space of both countries, capacity building and
  improving relationship between them.

• HCL Technologies on Thursday
  announced a partnership with data centre infrastructure company Mesosphere to
  deliver a unified operational experience and achieve efficient resource
  utilisation for its customers.
• The partnership combines
  Mesosphere’s Datacenter Operating System (DC/OS) with HCL’s unique Next-Gen
  information technology and operations capabilities.

• The second reactor of the
  Kudankulam Nuclear Power Project (KKNPP) was on 29 August 2016 successfully
  synchronised to the Southern Power Grid situated at Abhishekapatti, Chennai.
  This marks the generation of electricity and its supply to the grid by the second
  reactor.
• The Russian-designed VVER-1000
  reactor of Kudankulam is now generating 245 MWe power to the southern grid from
  the second unit. Output from Kudankulam 2 is being divided between four states:
  Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Kerala and Puducherry.
• However, the unit will be shut
  down for a mandatory inspection of the turbine generator after a few days of
  operation. Generation of power will be raised to 250 MWe, 500 MWe, 750 MWe, 900
  MWe and then 1000 MWe in stages.

• Union Cabinet on 31 August gave
  its approval to create a Project Development Fund (PDF) for catalysing Indian
  economic presence in the Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar and Vietnam (CLMV). The PDF
  will be created with a corpus of 500 Crore rupees.
• CLMV countries have a unique
  position in the regional value chains and offer a gateway for market access to
  China/EU and other markets due to various trade agreements.

• PDF will be housed in Department
  of Commerce.
• It will be operated through the
  EXIM Bank.
• It will be governed by an
  Inter-Ministerial Committee under the chairpersonship of the Commerce
  Secretary.

• India will have the advantage in
  the regional value chain by securing a dedicated market for domestic raw
  materials and intermediate goods on a long term basis.
• This regional access will provide
  a dedicated market for Indian raw materials and intermediate goods besides a
  dedicated source for inputs and raw materials for Indian industry.

• Union Government on 1 September
  2016 constituted an expert committee to study slit in river Ganga in Bihar. The
  four-member committee will be headed by Member of Ganga Flood Control
  commission AK Sinha.
• The committee has been asked to
  submit its report within 10 days.
• Other members of the committee
  are Chief Engineer of Central Water Commission SK Sahu, Prof. of IIT, AK Gosain
  and members of National Disaster Management Authority Dr. Rajnish Ranjan.

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• Justice SN Dhingra Commission set
  up on 31 August 2016 by the Haryana government submitted its report to the
  Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal. It hinted at irregularities.
• The commission was set up in May
  2015 to probe the circumstances of grant or rejection of licences for
  development of colonies, group housing societies and commercial complexes in
  Gurgaon. 

• The 182-page report has two parts
  of which the first part contains the findings and the second contains evidence.
• The report elaborates the manner
  adopted to commit irregularities and the people behind it.
• The Commission has reportedly
  examined more than 200 cases of grant of Change of Land Use (CLU) licences.

• The Energy and Resources
  Institute (TERI) on 31 August 2016 officially appointed former Finance
  Secretary Ashok Chawla as the new Chancellor of TERI University.
• The decision to appoint Chawla
  was taken in its meeting held on 19 August 2016 by the governing council of
  TERI.
• With this, the University ended
  its last association with former Chancellor and Head R.K. Pachauri, who was
  accused of sexually harassing a female colleague in 2015.
• Chawla has also been serving as
  the Chairman of Teri since February 2016.

• Michel Temer, Brazil’s former
  Vice President, was on 31 August 2016 sworn in as the President of Brazil.
  Temer is expected to stay in power until the next scheduled election in late
  2018.
• His appointment came following
  the removal of Dilma Rousseff from the office through the Senators’ voting.
• Senators voted 61-20 to convict
  Rousseff for illegally using money from state banks to boost public spending,
  an act seen as a leading factor behind the massive 60 billion US dollars
  deficit, the worst recession being faced by Brazil, leaving millions of people
  out of work.

• A software industry veteran Ajei
  Gopal on 30 August 2016 was named the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of a
  leading US company ANSYS.
• Gopal will take over the charge
  of the Pennsylvania-based company with effect from 1 January 1 2017.
• James Cashman, who has served as
  ANSYS’ CEO since 2000, will become Chairman of the Board of Directors,
  effective from January 2017.

• Carnatic singer Thodur Madabusi
  Krishna and Bezwada Wilson, campaigner for eradication of manual scavenging, on
  31 August 2016 received the prestigious Ramon Magsaysay Award 2016.
• They were among six persons who
  received the award. Four others who received the award are: Conchita
  Carpio-Morales of the Philippines, Dompet Dhuafa of Indonesia, Japan Overseas
  Cooperation Volunteers and Vientiane Rescue of Laos.

• Wilson, the national convenor of
  the Safai Karmachari Andolan (SKA), got the award for asserting the inalienable
  right to a life of human dignity.
• He has been leading a grassroot
  movement to eradicate the degrading servitude of manual scavenging in India,
  reclaiming for the Dalits the human dignity that is their natural birthright.
• He has spent 32 years on his
  crusade, leading not only with a sense of moral outrage but also with
  remarkable skills in mass organising, and working within India’s complex legal
  system.

• Krishna won the award under the
  Emergent Leadership category for bringing social inclusiveness in culture. He
  is a Carnatic music vocalist.
• His forceful commitment as artist
  in breaking barriers of caste and class to unleash what music has to offer not
  just for some but for all led to his selection for the award.

• Biocon chairperson and managing
  director Kiran Mazumdar Shaw has been appointed ‘Chevalier de l’Ordre National
  de la Legion d’Honneur’ (Knight of the National Order of the French Legion of
  Honour) for her outstanding contribution and dedication to Biosciences and
  Research field globally.
• The award will be conferred on
  behalf of the President of the French Republic at a special ceremony later this
  year, Biocon said here in a statement.
• Chevalier l’Ordre National de la
  Legion d’Honneur, created in 1802 by Napoleon Bonaparte, is the highest
  civilian award of the French Republic for outstanding contribution in diverse
  fields bestowed on citizens of the world.
• The award is conferred by the President
  of the French Republic.
• Other Indians to have received
  this honour in the past include Yashwant Sinha, Narayana Murthy, Amitabh
  Bachchan, Aishwarya Rai, Nandita Das, Shah Rukh Khan, veteran musician
  Balamuralikrishna and the late actor Sivaji Ganesan, among others.