Current Affairs Update – 27th August, 2015

Hello and welcome to ExamPundit. Here are the Important Current Affairs of 27th August, 2015. These are important for IBPS RRB Office Assistant and IBPS Clerk 2015.

Finance
Union Cabinet cleared
4 months extension for 7th Pay Commission
Union Cabinet chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on 26
August 2015 gave 4 months extension (up to 31 December 2015) to the 7th Central
Pay Commission. Justice Ashok Kumar Mathur is the Chairman of the Commission.
The extension was approved after the commission sought
extension of 4 months due to volume of work and intensive stake-holders’
consultations. The Commission constituted by the Central Government in February
2014 was mandated to submit its recommendations by 27 August 2015.
Seventh Pay Commission is scheduled to come into effect from
1 January 2016.
The Sixth Pay Commission headed by Justice BN Srikrishna was
implemented with effect from 1 January 2006, the fifth from 1 January 1996 and
the fourth from 1 January 1986.
Bharti Airtel buys
Augere to boost 4G play

  • Bharti Airtel has agreed to acquire Augere Wireless
    Broadband India, as the nation’s top telecom carrier looks to consolidate its
    4G footprint ahead of the launch of similar high-speed broadband services by
    rivals such as Vodafone India, Idea Cellular and Reliance Jio Infocomm.
  • Augere had won a block of 20 MHz of 4G spectrum (the 2,300
    MHz band) in the Madhya Pradesh-Chhattisgarh circle for Rs 122.46 crore in the
    2010 auctions. The company — owned by France Telecom and a clutch of private
    equity funds such as Harbinger Capital and New Silk Route — initially announced
    plans of rolling out 4G services in late 2011.
  • But it then decided not to go ahead with the launch, citing
    uncertain regulatory conditions. It had been looking to sell its permit ever
    since.

India
Govt announces 98
smart city nominees; set for second stage of challenge

  • The Government on Thursday announced the list of 98 cities
    which will now compete for the second stage of the smart cities challenge to
    secure Rs. 100 crore funding from the Centre.
  • Out of these 98 cities and towns, 24 are capital cities,
    another 24 are business and industrial centres, 18 are of cultural and tourism
    importance, 5 are port cities and 3 are education and health care hubs, Union
    Minister for Urban Development M Venkaih Naidu said.
  • The Centre had allotted each state a specific number of city
    slots. These 98 aspirants have been chosen by States/UTs through an intra-state
    competition based on existing service levels, financial and institutional
    capacities and past track record and reforms.
  • J&K has sought more time to decide the nominee from the
    State while UP has reported that Meerut and Raibareily have been tied in the
    evaluation. Hence, remaining 2 nominees will be decided in some time.
  • In the next few days, the Government will release Rs. 2
    crore for each to these 98 cities for preparation of smart city proposals for
    competing in the second stage.
  • Urban Development Ministry has drawn up region-wise panels
    of agencies for assisting cities in preparation of smart city plans.
    States/Urban local bodies can call for bids from among these panels, an
    official statement said.
  • Proposals will be judged by the Centre on credibility of
    implementation, city vision and strategy, economic and environmental impacts,
    cost effectiveness, innovation and scalability and processes followed including
    citizen implementation.
  • Top 20 scoring cities will be chosen by December this year
    and Rs. 100 crore per city per year will be provided by Centre for the next 5
    years. States will have to match this contribution.
  • For implementation of proposals, a special purpose vehicle
    will be each selected city wherein the State/UT and urban local body will have
    50:50 equity.

Niti Aayog launches
improved data tool for energy planning
  • The Niti Aayog has launched an improved version of its
    interactive data tool on the country’s energy security scenario to help policy
    makers and stakeholders make informed choices for better energy planning for
    the future.
  • The Indian Energy Security Scenarios (IESS) 2047 (Version
    2.0) calculator, housed within the Niti Aayog, will suggest measures to shift
    the energy pattern in a way to ensure advancement of the country’s energy
    security considerations.
  • The calculator explores India’s possible energy futures
    across energy supply sectors such as solar, wind, biofuels, oil, gas, coal, and
    nuclear, and demand sectors such as transport, industry, agriculture, cooking,
    lighting and appliances, said Anil Kumar Jain, Adviser (Energy), Niti Aayog.
  • The IESS 2047, an initiative of the Department of Energy
    & Climate Change, has been developed by the energy team in Niti Aayog with
    support from a number of non-government organisations, think-tanks and industry
    bodies such as FICCI, CII, TERI, India Smart Grid Forum, Integrated Research
    and Action for Development, Berkley Lab and Centre for Study of Science,
    Technology & Policy.

GSLV-D6 launched
successfully from Satish Dhawan Space Centre SHAR

  • Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle (GSLV)-D6 was
    successfully launched on 27 August 2015. It was launched from the Second Launch
    Pad at the Satish Dhawan Space Centre SHAR (SDSC SHAR), Sriharikota in Andhra
    Pradesh.
  • GSLV-D6 inducted 2117 kg GSAT-6, an advanced communication
    satellite into a Geosynchronous Transfer Orbit (GTO). The satellite is intended
    to provide S-band communication services in the country.
  • This is the third time the indigenously developed Cryogenic
    Upper Stage (CUS) is being carried on-board during a GSLV flight. The flight is
    significant since it intends to continue the testing of CUS.
  • It is configured with all its three stages including the CUS
    similar to the ones successfully flown during the previous GSLV-D5 mission in
    January 2014. GSLV-D5 successfully placed GSAT-14 satellite carried on-board in
    the intended GTO very accurately.

Union Cabinet
approved amendments in the Central List of Other Backward Classes
  • The Union Cabinet on 26 August 2015 approved the amendments
    in the Central List of Other Backward Classes (OBCs) in respect of two States
    Gujarat and Uttarakhand for making suitable amendments in the Central List of
    OBCs.
  • The amendments were approved following the advices received
    from the National Commission for Backward Classes (NCBC). The following
    castes/communities have been included in the Central List of OBCs in the two
    States of Gujarat and Uttarakhand:

1
  • Gujarat: Sipai
  • UK: Kahar

2
  • Gujarat: Patni Jamat or Turk Jamat (all Muslims)
  • UK: Tanwar Singhariya

  • The amendments will enable the persons belonging to these
    castes/ communities to avail the benefits of reservation in Government services
    and posts as well as in Central Educational Institutions as per the existing
    policy.

Kolkata Port adjudged
as the best ‘Major Port of 2014-15’

  • Kolkata Port was on 21 August 2015 adjudged as the ‘Major
    Port of the Year’ amongst 12 major ports in the country for the year 2014-15. It
    was honoured in recognition of its impressive growth rate in volumes,
    optimizing capacity utilization, growth in output per berth and customer
    satisfaction.
  • It has been declared in the Gateway Award 2015 programme
    held at Mumbai.
  • Kolkata Dock System and Haldia Dock System under Kolkata
    Port Trust (KoPT) together handled 16.834 million tonnes (MT) of traffic during
    April to June 2015, which stands against 13.698 MT handled during the
    corresponding period 2014.
  • KPT has achieved traffic growth of 23 percent, while all
    other major ports of the country have together recorded a growth of 5.8
    percent. The port handles two private train operators apart from CONCOR.

Union Cabinet
approved Amendments to the Arbitration and Conciliation Bill, 2015
  • The Union Cabinet chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on
    26 August 2015 gave its nod for amendments to the Arbitration and Conciliation
    Bill, 2015. The amendments are based on the Law Commission’s recommendations of
    246th reports and suggestions received from stakeholders.
  • The Union Government has decided to amend the Arbitration
    and Conciliation Act, 1996 by introducing the Arbitration and Conciliation
    (Amendment) Bill, 2015 in the Parliament. These amendments will help India to
    become a hub of International Commercial Arbitration.
  • In order to ensure neutrality of arbitrators, it is proposed
    to amend Section 12 to the effect that when a person is approached in
    connection with possible appointment of arbitrator, he shall disclose in
    writing about existence of any relationship or interest of any kind, which is
    likely to give rise to justifiable doubts. Further, if a person is having
    specified relationship, he shall be ineligible to be appointed as an
    arbitrator.

Appointments
Tennis Player Novak
Djokovic appointed as Goodwill Ambassador of UNICEF

  • Novak Djokovic, the world’s top ranked tennis player, was on
    26 August 2015 appointed as the Goodwill Ambassador of the United Nations
    Children’s Fund (UNICEF), after having served as the UNICEF’s Serbia
    Ambassador.
  • He also signed a Memorandum of Understanding between the
    World Bank and the Novak Djokovic Foundation to promote early childhood
    development. The Fund and the Foundation have established a close cooperation
    on bringing early childhood services to every child and family in Serbia.
  • Novak Djokovic has been lending his support to children’s
    welfare since he teamed up with UNICEF in 2011. He has been working for
    improving the lives of children, especially those who are amongst the most
    marginalized, with a particular focus on the importance of early childhood
    education.
  • With this, Djokovic has joined other accomplished and
    dedicated UNICEF Goodwill Ambassadors including Danny Kaye, Audrey Hepburn,
    David Beckham, Harry Belafonte, Orlando Bloom, Katy Perry, Sir Roger Moore,
    Shakira, Maxim Vengerov, Serena Williams and others.
  • Djokovic is one of the most dominant players to ever set
    foot on a tennis court. To date, Djokovic has won a total of 54 career titles,
    including 9 Grand Slams and he was a Medallist at the 2008 Summer Olympics in
    Beijing.

Snapdeal appoints
former Adobe executive Rajiv Mangla as CTO

  • e-Commerce major Snapdeal, appointed former Adobe executive,
    Rajiv Mangla, as Chief Technology Officer.
  • In his new role, Mr. Mangla will establish the company’s
    technical vision and lead all aspects of its technological development,
    Snapdeal said in a statement.
  • Previously, he spent about 10 years at Adobe Systems, where
    he most recently served as VP Engineering, Digital Marketing.
  • Prior to Adobe, Mr. Mangla had been an entrepreneur for 10
    years and founded a couple of companies.
  • The technology team at Snapdeal is currently 1,000 people
    strong and the company looks at doubling it by the end of this year.
  • In the past few months, Snapdeal has significantly ramped up
    its technology leadership team and has hired senior leaders like Anand
    Chandrasekaran (ex-CPO Bharti Airtel), Gaurav Gupta (India Head of Scalearc),
    Amitava Ghosh (ex-CTO, Taxi For Sure) and Viraj Chatterjee (ex-Director
    Engineering, Adobe Systems).

Awards
& Honors –
Rajendra Singh
conferred with 2015 Stockholm Water Prize
  • The Waterman of India Rajendra Singh on 26 August 2015 was
    conferred with the 2015 Stockholm Water Prize.
  • King Carl XVI Gustaf of Sweden, Patron of the Stockholm
    Water Prize presented the prize at a Royal Award Ceremony during World Water
    Week in Swedish Capital Stockholm.
  • Singh was named for the prestigious award for his innovative
    water restoration efforts, improving water security in rural India, and for
    showing extraordinary courage and determination in his quest to improve the
    living conditions for those most in need.

Three Indians named
Fellows of American Society for Metals for 2015
  • Three Indians were named as Fellows of American Society for
    Metals (ASM) in the fourth week of August 2015. These three Indians along with
    three other Indian-origin persons featured among the list of 29 fellows who
    were named as Fellows of ASM for 2015.
  • While, the Indian Fellows were Pradeep Goyal, Vivekanand
    Kain, and Gankidi Madhusudhan Reddy, the Indian-origin achievers were Pranesh
    Aswath, Suveen Mathaudhu and Muthukumarasamy Sadayappan.
  • All the 29 persons were honoured for their contributions in
    the field of materials science and engineering. The fellows will be presented
    with their awards in October 2015 during the Materials Science and Technology
    event at Columbus in Ohio State of the USA.

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