Current Affairs Update – 19th June, 2015

Hello and welcome to ExamPundit. Here are the Important Current Affairs of 19th June, 2015. These are Important for the Upcoming SBI PO Mains Exam 2015 and RBI Assistant 2015 Exam.

• Country's largest lender State Bank of India today said it has launched SBI eforex, an Internet- based platform that enables customers to book their foreign exchange transactions online.
• The customers will be able to obtain forex rates without having to visit the branch, the bank said in a statement.
• The SBI eforex is an innovative platform incorporating robust security features and is designed to be user-friendly, fast and convenient.
• It is a highly flexible product offering the facility to the customers to customise and set their own limits for deal size, daily transaction limits. Details of all deals done are made available to the users on a real-time basis.
• This is SBI's second forex technology initiative, having launched SBI Fx Out, which enables customers to send foreign currency remittances from any its branches in India.

• The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA), chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, on 17 June 2015 gave its approval for the Minimum Support Prices (MSPs) for Kharif Crops of 2015-16 season.
• All the approved MSPs were based on recommendations of the Commission for Agricultural Costs and Prices (CACP) for the Price Policy for Kharif Crops for the Marketing Season 2015-16 except for pulses.
• The CCEA decided to give a bonus of 200 rupees per quintal for pulses over and above the recommendations of the CACP in view of a huge deficit of pulses in the country.
• The approved MSPs of pulses per quintal, inclusive of bonus, are: Tur (Arhar) – 4625 rupees against 4350 rupees during the 2014-15 season; Moong- 4850 rupees against 4600 rupees; and Urad 4625 rupees against  4350 rupees during the previous season.
• The increase in prices expected to give a strong price signal to farmers to increase acreage and invest for increase in productivity of pulses.
• The prices of pulses have increased by over 50 per cent during the 2014-15 season due to inclement weather that subsequently resulted in import of 5000 quintals of imports by the government.

• Seeking synergies between Swedish and Indian entrepreneurship, Indian mission in Sweden has launched 'India Unlimited' platform.
• The aim of the platform 'India Unlimited' is promoting Brand India in Sweden and Brand Sweden in India. It seeks to strengthen Indo-Swedish connections and partnerships in all areas that benefit both countries, especially economic relations and people-to-people ties.
• The platform was at the forefront during the recent visit of President Pranab Mukherjee to the country, the first-ever visit by an Indian President to Sweden.
• Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) from Sweden to India is pegged at USD 70 million and India exports goods worth USD 732 million while Sweden exports goods worth USD 1,679 million.
• Nearly 150,000 jobs are directly created by Swedish companies present in India. The indirect numbers are much higher, including sub-contractors, farmers and service providers. A number of Indian companies have also invested in Sweden, particularly in the IT sector. In total there are more than 50 Indian companies present in Sweden.

• India on Friday offered its expertise to Tanzania in development of its potentially rich natural gas sector and decided to extend e-tourist visa to people of the African nation even as the two countries signed eight MoUs to expand engagements in diverse areas.
• During extensive talks Prime Minister Narendra Modi had with Tanzanian President Jakaya Mrisho Kikwete, both the countries also decided to establish a Joint Working Group to strengthen cooperation in counter terrorism.
• The MoUs signed included a loan agreement between Exim Bank and Tanzanian government on a line of credit for $ 268.35 million for extension of a pipeline project and cooperation in the field of hydrology, tourism and agriculture.
• The Prime Minister said he has conveyed to Mr. Kikwete that India will soon extend e-tourist visa scheme to Tanzanian tourists.
• The Tanzania President thanked India for its continued assistance to his country and said both the nations have decided to take the relationship to the next level.

• Union Agriculture Minister Radha Mohan Singh on 18 June 2015 launched a weather alert service named NOWCAST.
• NOWCAST will be used to send SMS alerts on extreme weather data like hailstorm, thunderstorm and squall originated by India Meteorological Department (IMD) to over one crore farmers whose mobile numbers are registered on government’s mKisan portal.
• Further, the mKisan portal will send warning SMSs to farmers located in affected district/blocks. These warnings will help the farmers to take precautionary measures as needed and feasible. The SMS will be sent in English, Hindi and regional languages as per farmers’ request.
• This technological break-through is a collaborative effort between mKisan Portal developed by DAC, weather technologies adopted by IMD and GIS Portal of NIC.
• Besides, Radha Mohan Singh also launched Insurance Web-Portals for Farmers (www.farmer.gov.in/insurance) that will enable farmers to insure their crops under three schemes.

1. National Agriculture Insurance Scheme (NAIS)
2. Modified National Insurance Scheme (MNAIS)
3. Weather based Crop Insurance Scheme (WBCIS)

• Japan’s SoftBank Corp on 28 June 2015 announced that it has set up a joint venture with Chinese online shopping giant Alibaba and electronics supplier Foxconn Technology to sell its human-like robot Pepper around the world.
• The company in its statement said that the robot will go on sale to general consumers from 20 June 2015 for 198000 yen (1610.54 dollars) each plus monthly fee and insurance. These waist-high peeper robots will serve as baby-shitters, medical workers or even party companions.
• At present, these robots which can learn and express human emotions are used in stores including SoftBank’s mobile phone shops.

• China and Australia on 17 June 2015 signed the China-Australia Free Trade Agreement (ChAFTA) at Canberra in Australia.
• The agreement was signed by China's Commerce Minister Gao Hucheng and Australia's Trade Minister Andrew Robb.
• The chAFTA will ensure 85 percent of all exports of Australia to China tariff-free that will rise to 93 percent by 2019.

• India's junior boys and cadet girls on 18 June 2015 won the team championship titles at the South Asian Junior and Cadet Table Tennis Championships at the Talkatora Stadium in New Delhi.
• To retain the title in junior boys section, the Indian paddlers won all the four matches without dropping a set. Similarly, cadet girls won all their matches without a hiccup.

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