Current Affairs Update – 17th June, 2015

Hello and welcome to ExamPundit. Here are the Important Current Affairs of 17th June, 2015. These are important for the upcoming SBI PO Mains Exam 2015 and RBI Assistant 2015 Exam.

• Gearing up to roll out GST from April 1, 2016, the Finance Ministry today set up two committees to suggest tax rates and look into IT preparedness for the new indirect tax regime.
• Committee formed under the Finance Ministry's Chief Economic Advisor would "recommend possible tax rates under GST that would be consistent with the present level of revenue collection of Centre and states," a statement said.
• While making recommendations, it would take into account expected levels of growth of economy, different levels of compliance and broadening of tax base under Goods and Services Tax (GST), Finance Ministry in a statement said.
• "The Committee would also analyse the sector-wise and state-wise impact of GST on the economy. The Committee is expected to give its report within two months," it said.
• The statement added, Steering Committee has been formed under the Co-Chairmanship of Additional Secretary of Revenue Department and Member Secretary of Empowered Committee (EC) of State Finance Ministers.
• The panel has members from Revenue Department, Central Board of Excise and Customs, Goods and Services Tax Network (GSTN) and representatives of state governments.
• It would monitor the progress of IT preparedness of GSTN/CBEC/Tax authorities, finalisation of reports of all the sub-committees on different aspects relating to the mechanics of GST and drafting of CGST, IGST and SGST laws/rules.

• The government today approved 16 foreign investment proposals, including those of Torrent Pharmaceuticals and Star India Private Limited, amounting to Rs 6,750.86 crore.
• "Based on the recommendations of Foreign Investment Promotion Board (FIPB). Government has approved 16 proposals of Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) amounting to Rs 6,750.86 crore," Finance Ministry said in a statement.
• The proposals were cleared during the FIPB meeting held on May 28, it added.
• However, a total of 21 proposals were deferred during the meeting and six others were rejected.
• The government has approved Torrent Pharmaceuticals' proposal for increasing FII investment from 13.09 per cent to 35 per cent.
• While, Syngene International has been allowed to raise foreign investment to 44 per cent from 10 per cent by initial public offering of equity shares to FIIs, FPIs and NRIs.
• Broadcaster Star India Private Limited has been given approval for further issuance and transfer of shares to its foreign collaborator and acquisition of another Indian company engaged in broadcasting sector on a slump sale basis.

• India and Poland set trade target of 5 billion US dollars by 2018. The decision was taken on 15 June 2015 at the fourth session of the bilateral Joint Commission on Economic Cooperation, held in Warsaw, capital city of Poland.
• The commission also identified a series of actions to raise trade from the 2014 level of 2.3 billion US dollars to 5 billion US dollars by the year 2018.
• The meeting of the commission was co-chaired by Amitabh Kant, Secretary, Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion (DIPP) and Jerzy Pietreiwicz, Secretary of State, Ministry of Economy of Poland.

• The UK today said it has maintained its position as the number one destination for FDI in Europe after attracting a record number of projects from over 70 countries including India, bringing in the largest financial value and associated jobs over the past year.
• Investment from India increased by 65 per cent, making it the UK's third largest source of FDI accounting for over 9,000 new and safeguarded jobs.
• The annual investment figures from UK Trade and Investment (UKTI) for 2014-15 show Britain attracted 1,988 FDI projects - 12 per cent more compared to 2013-14, estimated to have brought with them almost 85,000 new jobs and 23,000 safeguarded jobs across the UK.
• The UK's strong performance during 2014 has seen the country's inward FDI stock - the value of accumulated FDI in the UK - break the 1 trillion pound-level for the first time.
• This is the highest in Europe and the third in the world after the United States and China.

• ISRO has said it will provide navigational support to the country’s Railways through ‘GAGAN’ (GPS-aided geo-augmented navigation) system.
• GAGAN is an indigenous navigational guide system developed by ISRO on the lines of GPS system of the U.S.
• GAGAN was jointly developed by the ISRO and Airports Authority of India (AAI) with a view to assist aircraft in accurate landing.
• The GAGAN signal is being broadcast through two Geostationary Earth Orbit (GEO) satellites — GSAT8 and GSAT10.
• With the use of GAGAN software system, a tr ain would know the location of any unmanned level crossing and soon a a warning signal can be given.
• As soon as the warning signal will be given, the train’s hooter will automatically start when it comes near an unmanned crossing.

• The Union Cabinet on Wednesday approved the introduction of a new Bureau of Indian Standards Bill, 2015.
• The new Bill will provide the legislative framework to establish the BIS as the National Standards Body of India.
• According to an official statement, provisions of the new Bill will allow the Bureau of Indian Standards to perform its functions through a governing council which would include a President and other members.
• It would enable the Government to bring under the mandatory certification regime articles, processes or services which it considers necessary from a point of view of health, safety, environment, prevention of deceptive practices, security and others.
• The law also seeks to provide simplified conformity assessment schemes including Self Declaration of Conformity as long as manufacturers adhere to standards.
• The Central Government will have the right to appoint any authority in addition to BIS to verify the conformity of products and services to a standard and issue certificate of conformity.

• Cabinet has approved stepping up cumulative target under National Solar Mission from 20,000 MW to 1 lakh MW by 2022.
• It has also approved interest subsidy on housing loans for tenure up to 15 years under EWS/ LIG categories.
• Cabinet has approved introduction of a new Bureau of Indian Standards Bill, 2015, that will replace the existing BIS Act of 1986.

• The Election Commission of India (ECI) on 16 June 2015 suspended the recognition of National People's Party (NPP) as a state party in Meghalaya. The NPP is headed by former Lok Sabha Speaker PA Sangma.
• The decision was taken in lieu of its failure in filing the election expenditure statement related to 2014 Lok Sabha general elections within the prescribed limit of 90 days.
• The ECI took this decision under the powers vested in it as per the 16A of the Election Symbols (Reservation and Allotment) Order, 1968. It states that the commission can suspend or withdraw recognition of a recognised political party, either national or state, for its failure to observe Model Code of Conduct or follow lawful directions and instructions of the commission.

• Stepping up his digital presence, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday launched the ‘Narendra Modi Mobile App’ to provide instant updates and an opportunity to receive messages and emails directly from him.
• The Android-based application is also aimed at giving a chance to people to interact with him and share ideas and suggestions.
• “Launched ‘Narendra Modi Mobile App’ Come, lets stay connected on the mobile! The Mobile App has several innovative features. You can download it from Play Store. Feedback is welcome,” Mr. Modi tweeted.

• Chennai’s NL Beno Zephine on 12 June 2015 became the first 100 percent visually-challenged person to be inducted into the Indian Foreign Services (IFS).
• The 25-year-old, Beno was informed about her induction into the Indian Foreign Services by the External Affairs Ministry.
• At the time of being named as IFS officer, Beno was serving the State Bank of India as a probationary officer. She is a postgraduate in English from Madras University.
• Beno cleared her civil service examinations conducted in 2013. While preparing for the exam, she took help of software named Job Access with Speech (JAWS), which was a replacement of Brialle. The software allows visually challenged to read from a computer screen, and can scan Tamil and English books.

• Senior IPS officer Archana Ramasundaram has been moved out of the CBI and appointed as Director, National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB).
• Ramasundaram, a 1980 batch Indian Police Service (IPS) officer of Tamil Nadu cadre, was appointed as Additional Director in CBI in February last year amid controversy.She was not assigned any work on the direction of the Supreme Court, which is hearing a writ petition against her appointment.
• The Appointments Committee of Cabinet (ACC) has approved lateral shift of Ramasundaram from the post of Additional Director, CBI to hold Director General or equivalent level post at the Centre; and premature curtailment of her tenure in the CBI, an order issued by Department of Personnel and Training said.

• The International Boxing Association (AIBA) on 16 June 2015 constituted a five-member ad-hoc committee to manage the process of finding a group to organise and run boxing in India.
• Kishan Narsi, an international referee who officiated in four Olympics was appointed as the Chairman of the committee. He has been the Vice-Chairman of Executive Committee of AIBA.
• Other members of the committee include Jay Kowli, Manisha Malhotra and Injeti Srinivas. The fifth member of the committee will be appointed by AIBA on the recommendation of the ad hoc committee and would be a national coach.

• The book Recasting India: How Entrepreneurship is changing the world's Largest Democracy written by Hindol Sengupta was in news in June 2015.
• In the book the author explains emergence of new class of entrepreneurs in India, in recent times, especially from geographically and socially disadvantage spaces.

• For more than half a century, Indian architect Charles Correa championed modern architecture, planning cities and designing nearly 100 buildings in the country, from luxury condominiums to housing for the poor.
• Mr. Correa died Tuesday night in Mumbai, according to his son-in-law Rahul Mehrotra. He was 84 years old.
• Among those who offered condolences was Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
• Dubbed “India’s Greatest Architect” by the Royal Institute of British Architects in 2013, Mr. Correa worked on the master plan for Navi Mumbai, a satellite town of the western Indian city of Mumbai, in the 1960s. The town spread across an area of almost 133 square miles.
• He was also involved in several low-income housing projects, like one in Belapur in Navi Mumbai, where he aimed to bring individual identities to tightly-packed housing units and, at the same time, ensure equity between the houses.

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