Current Affairs Update – 26th May, 2015

Hello and welcome to ExamPundit. Here are the Important Current Affairs of 26th May, 2015.

• Micro Units Development Refinance Agency (MUDRA) Bank has partnered with 19 state and regional level coordinators to reach those small entrepreneurs who are often cut off from the banking system because of a limited branch presence.
• This initiative is expected to help finance ‘Last Mile Financiers’ of small and micro businesses. These businesses would in turn generate almost 10 times jobs compared to what was being generated by the big companies currently.
• MUDRA Bank’s effort is likely to transform small enterprises into a Rs. 11 lakh crore industry, which would give a significant push to country’s economy.
• The Central government had set up MUDRA Bank to boost the growth of small scale businesses as small entrepreneurs face difficulty to access banking system for various reasons. This venture by MUDRA will help finance small and micro businesses at the grassroots level.

• Industrialist Yash Birla, as also two Mumbai-based individuals behind City Limousines scam, are among five Indian nationals with Swiss bank accounts whose names have been made public in Switzerland's official gazette with regard to ongoing tax probes against them in India.
• The other two are Gurjit Singh Kochar, son-in-law of late realty baron Ponty Chadha, and a Delhi-based businesswoman Ritika Sharma.
• The names of these five "Indian nationals" have been made public in Switzerland's Federal Gazette with regard to details sought about them by the Indian authorities.
• Among these, some details have already been shared by the Swiss Federal Tax Administration (FTA) with India including about Birla and Sharma of Blessings Apparel.
• These are in addition to the two other Indians -- Sneh Lata Sawhney and Sangita Sawhney -- whose names have also been made public in similar manner for being probed by the Indian tax authorities.
• The officials also said that the main purpose of the names being published in the gazette is providing the concerned persons an opportunity to explore legal remedies.
• The names being made public in this manner could include some big names, as those whose names have been published in the latest gazette includes Francisco Jose Ortiz von Bismarck. As per German media reports, he is a descendant of the first Chancellor of German empire Otto von Bismarck.

• India’s largest online marketplace Snapdeal has acquired Hyderabad-based mobile e-commerce platform MartMobi, a company that has created mobile-specific platform for small and medium-sized businesses, for an undisclosed sum.
• India is Asia’s fastest-growing smartphone market, according to IDC, and mobile is the first point of access for many Internet users. For e-commerce platforms, this means it is essential to make mobile apps and sites that are not only easy to browse and purchase from, but also navigable for vendors managing large amounts of inventory and transactions.
• Snapdeal says 75 percent of its sales are made through mobile transactions and that 70 percent of its sellers have used its apps to list products and manage transactions. The company is building out its mobile capabilities with an investment and acquisition spree. Last month it purchased Freecharge, which gives customers rewards in return for using its platform to pay phone credit and utility bills.

• MasterCard and the Confederation of All India Traders (CAIT) on Tuesday announced a joint initiative to promote the digitisation of payments among Indian traders.
• This is sought to be achieved through knowledge sharing and training sessions across the country, in line with the Government's 'Digital India' vision.
• Under this partnership, MasterCard and CAIT will organise a series of training and educational sessions called "Master Your Card" in various metro and non-metro cities including New Delhi, Bangalore, Pune and Surat.
• Commenting on this partnership, Ari Sarker, Country Corporate Officer (India) and Division President South Asia, MasterCard, said that technology is available today to help Indian traders better manage their resources and cashflows.
• Increasingly, people's lives have become digital as technology like the internet and mobile phones become more prevalent and easily accessible, and traders must consider adopting digital payments if they want to build a successful business, Sarker said.

• Making a strong pitch for growth of farmers, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday said the country cannot move forward without their progress and called for increase in crop productivity by 50 per cent.
• Launching DD Kisan Channel, which would provide information about best agricultural practices and related content, to mark the completion of his government’s first year in office, Mr. Modi lamented that present system had left farmers to fend for themselves and there was a need to make the sector .
• Linking the issue of malnutrition with low production of pulses, he noted that the country was dependent on imports to meet its requirement of edible oil and pulses and urged scientific community to work with farmers to ensure that there was enough production to meet domestic demand by 2022 when India celebrates its 75 years of independence.
• Though his over 40-minute speech dealt with various issues pertaining to farmers and their betterment, he did not mention the contentious Land Bill on which his government is facing stiff opposition, including from NDA allies.
• The Prime Minister observed that a study done over 200 years ago has shown that paddy productivity was 15-18 tonne per hectare without the help of advanced techniques and fertilizers, while the average grain production was now only 2 tonne per hectare. The world average is 3 tonnes, he said.

• HAL has signed an MoU with BAe Systems UK for Hawk Mk132 Upgrade, development of combat Hawk for Indian and export markets and maintenance solutions for supporting Jaguar and Hawk fleet.
• M N Shrinath, General Manager - Aircraft, signed the MoU on behalf of HAL, while Steve Timms, Managing Director - Defence Information, Training and Services, signed on behalf of BAeS. Chris Boardman, Managing Director - Military Air & Information, headed the BAeS delegation.
• According to HAL, Hawk Mk 132 is an Advanced Jet Trainer (AJT) with tandem dual seats meant to provide basic, advanced flying and weapons training.

• Country's largest lender State Bank of India today said the government has appointed Rajnish Kumar as the Managing Director - Compliance and Risk department.
• The post was lying vacant since November last year after the then MD A Krishna Kumar retired.
• For the post of fourth MD, four deputy managing directors of SBI group had appeared for interviews in December last year.
• Apart from Kumar, those who had appeared for the interview include Praveen Kumar Gupta, SBI's chief financial officer, NK Chari, head of medium corporate group at SBI, and S A Ramesh Rangan, MD at State Bank of Patiala.
• It could be noted that the current SBI chairman Arundhati Bhattacharya has also served as the MD and CEO of SBI Caps in past.
• Prior to this, Kumar was managing director and CEO of SBI Capital Market (SBI Caps).
• The other three serving MDs at SBI are Pradeep Kumar (Corporate Banking Group), B Sriram (National Banking Group) and VG Kannan (Associates and Subsidiaries).

• Lt General (Retd) Nirbhay Sharma was today sworn-in as the Governor of Mizoram at the Durbar Hall of Raj Bhavan here.
• Justice T Vaiphei, judge of the Gauhati High Court, administered the oath of office to General Sharma.
• State Chief Minister Lal Thanhawla, his cabinet colleagues, legislators from both the ruling Congress and the opposition Mizo National Front (MNF), senior officials of the state government and the Army attended the gubernatorial swearing-in ceremony.
• General Sharma, the former Governor of Arunachal Pradesh, was transferred and appointed as Mizoram Governor on May 12 by President Pranab Mukherjee, replacing West Bengal Governor Keshari Nath Tripathi who took additional charge of Mizoram.
• He is the eighth Governor of Mizoram after the then state Governor Vakkom Purushothaman resigned on July 12 last year in protest against being transferred to Nagaland.

• Rating agency ICRA's chief Naresh Takkar has replaced former Crisil MD Roopa Kudva as a member of the External Advisory Committee of RBI that evaluates applications for payment bank licences.
• The committee formed in February is headed by Nachiket Mor, Director of Central Board of RBI.
• This EAC is being chaired by Nachiket Mor, director, Central Board of RBI.

• Former Sri Lanka captain Kumar Sangakkara on 25 May 2015 was named as the International Cricketer of the Year 2015 while the middle order batsman Ajinkya Rahane was named as the CEAT Indian Cricketer of the Year 2015.
• Former Indian captain Kapil Dev was conferred with the International Lifetime Achievement Award at the 19th edition of the awards.
• Rohit Sharma was given a special award for his record-breaking 264 made against Sri Lanka in an ODI at Kolkata.

• International Lifetime Achievement Award - Kapil Dev
• International Cricketer of the Year – Kumar Sangakkara
• Indian Cricketer of the Year –Ajinkya Rahane
• International Batsman of the Year – Hashim Amla
• International Bowler of the Year – Rangana Herath

• Pakistan spin bowler Raza Hasan has been banned for two years after failing a doping test, the country’s cricket board said.
• The 22-year-old left-armer returned an “adverse analytical finding” from a urine sample taken during a domestic tournament in January, the Pakistan Cricket Board said in a statement. The board declined to name the substance.
• Hasan, who has played one ODI and 10 Twenty20 matches for Pakistan, was notified on March 24, 2015 and subsequently failed to send a written request for a hearing within 14 days, the PCB said.
• Hasan made his ODI debut against Australia in Dubai in October and played his last international match in a T20 against New Zealand in the Gulf city in December.

• Punjab pugilist Mandeep Kaur Sandhu has won two gold medals (52 kg category) on Saturday at the Women's World Junior Boxing Championship in Taipei, thus scripting a classic rags to rich storyline.
• Indian boxers had a terrific outing in the tournament as they won 7 medals in all, including three golds, a silver and two bronze.
• Fifteen year old Mandeep, who halis from Chakkar village, defeated Ireland's Niamh Earley in the final match by a 3-0 margin to win gold. Mandeep was dominant in her category throughout the tournament and registered some thrilling wins.
• Mandeep who studies humanities (Class 12) at the Government Senior Secondary School, Chakkar, started playing the sport at the age of 7. Her inspiration was her elder brother (an amateur boxer), who Mandeep used to accompany at the Sher-e-Punjab Sports Academy in Chakkar. The young girl learnt the tricks of the trade watching her brother practice and followed his footsteps in the sport.

• The Complete Story of Indian Reforms: 2G, Power & Private Enterprise: A Practitioner's Diary: Pradeep Baijal Former Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) chairman Pradip Baijal’s book The Complete Story of Indian Reforms: 2G, Power & Private Enterprise: A Practitioner's Diary was in news in fourth week of May 2015.
• The self-published book was in news because the author in the book has claimed that former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh had warned him of consequences if he did not co-operate in the 2G scam. He also claimed that even CBI warned him that he would be harmed if he did not cooperate.
• Besides, in a talk with a news channel he also informed that the UPA government also destroyed some files related to the 2G scam. In the talk, he claimed that his charges are not politically motivated, and the former Prime Minister approved the action of his Ministers.
• The author also claimed that Singh also dismissed his concerns in 2004 over Dayanidhi Maran being appointed as telecom minister as a case of conflict of interest. Maran was a broadcaster and TRAI had been made broadcasting regulator in 2004.

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