Current Affairs Update – 29th June, 2015

Hello and welcome to ExamPundit. Here are the Important Current Affairs of 29th June, 2015. These are Important for the upcoming SBI PO Mains 2015 and RBI Assistant 2015 Exams.

• Country’s second largest private sector lender HDFC Bank on Monday launched ’30-min auto’ and ’15-min 2-wheeler’ loan schemes, for which customers have to provide only their biometric details.
• “The 30-minute auto loan is available for HDFC Bank customers, as well as others. With this technology-enabled solution, loans for two-wheelers can also be approved within 15 minutes,” the Bank said in a release.
• Any person willing to avail a loan can walk into an auto dealership or any other touch points of the bank and provide the Aadhaar card number and fingerprint, it said.
• If eligible, based on the profile, the loan will then be approved with minimal documentation required from the customer within record time, it added.
• The 30-minute auto loan and 15-minute two-wheeler loan is the latest initiative in HDFC Bank’s digital banking offering christened Go Digital.

• Bahrain-based GFH Financial Group on 28 June 2015 signed an agreement with Indian conglomerate Adani Group for developing a Mumbai Economic Development Zone (MEDZ).
• Under the agreement, the GFH's unit Energy City Navi Mumbai (ECNM) and Adani Group will work together in creating the master plan for the lands of Phases II and III of the project, which will offer world class business infrastructure for local and international services including IT companies.
• The financial group's two units ECNM and Mumbai IT and Telecom City (MITTC) are two core components of the Mumbai Economic Development Zone (MEDZ). While, Adani Group will develop core infrastructure on these lands and will also commence the pre-sales and construction works on the site.

• The first phase of Chennai Metro Rail service was on 29 June 2015 launched by Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa. The first phase of Metro service covers the 10-km elevated stretch. It connects Alandur in south Chennai to Koyabedu in the north.
• The whole project is implemented by Chennai Metro Rail Limited (CMRL). The project was approved by then Congress-led UPA government in 2009.
• With launching of this Metro service, Chennai became seventh city in India to have metro service including Delhi, Mumbai, Gurgaon, Bangalore, Kolkata and Jaipur.
• The two corridors of Phase-1 of Chennai Metro Rail cost 16500 Cr. rupees to the state and will cover a 45-km stretch in the city.
• Designed as half underground and the rest elevated, corridor 1 is between Washermanpet and the airport. While, corridor 2 is from Chennai Central to St Thomas Mount and is likely to be ready by the 2015 end.

• After Maggi controversy, Indo Nissin today announced withdrawal of its instant noodles brand ‘Top Ramen’ from the Indian market on orders from central food safety regulator FSSAI.
• Earlier this month, Nestle had to recall Maggi noodles, while Hindustan Unilever also withdrew its Knorr instant noodles brand over safety and regulatory issues.
• On June 8, FSSAI had come out with the advisory on product safety testing of all instant noodle products in India after lead beyond permissible limits in Maggi noodles along with taste enhancer Monosodium glutamate (MSG).

• Daily yoga has now been made compulsory for the 10 lakh-strong central paramilitary forces as part of their physical drill.
• A directive issued to the Central Armed Police Forces (CAPFs) by the Union Home Ministry said they should also ensure that Yoga is practised even at active duty areas like border posts and those in the Left Wing Extremism affected states of the country.
• The CAPFs were directed to implement the Yoga drill on a "priority" and that an action taken report be also submitted.
• The directive has been issued to the six CAPFs like Central Reserve Police Force, Border Security Force, Central Industrial Security Force, Indo-Tibetan Border Police Force, Sashastra Seema Bal, National Security Guard and the Assam Rifles which work under the command of the Union Home Ministry.

• Delegates of 50 countries on 29 June 2015 signed the 60-article agreement that will lay the legal framework for the China-initiated Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB).
• Australia was first to sign the agreement at the Great Hall of the People in the Chinese capital Beijing.
• Out of the 57 founder-member countries, the remaining seven - Denmark, Kuwait, Malaysia, Philippines, Holland and South Africa and Thailand could not sign the agreement as it was not ratified by their respective domestic authorities.
• The agreement outlined the financial share of each member, policymaking, business and operational systems and governance structure of the AIIB.

• China, India, Russia, Britain, France, Australia, Germany, Luxembourg, Switzerland, Austria, Singapore, South Korea, Qatar, Oman, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Denmark, Kuwait, Malaysia, Philippines, Holland, South Africa, Thailand, Azerbaijan, Brunei, Cambodia, Egypt, Finland, Georgia, Iceland, Indonesia, Iran, Israel, Italy, Jordan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Laos, Maldives, Malta, Mongolia, Myanmar, Nepal, The Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Saudi Arabia, Spain, Sri Lanka, Sweden, Tajikistan, Turkey, United Arab Emirates (UAE), Uzbekistan and Vietnam
• The number of member countries in the bank is expected to increase to about 70, exceeding the 67-member ADB.

• June 30 this year will officially be a bit longer than usual because an extra second, or 'leap' second, will be added to the day, according to NASA.
• A day lasts 86,400 seconds. That is the case, according to the time standard that people use in their daily lives - Coordinated Universal Time, or UTC.
• UTC is "atomic time" - the duration of one second is based on extremely predictable electromagnetic transitions in atoms of cesium. These transitions are so reliable that the cesium clock is accurate to one second in 1,400,000 years.
• However, the mean solar day - the average length of a day, based on how long it takes Earth to rotate - is about 86,400.002 seconds long.
• That's because Earth's rotation is gradually slowing down a bit, due to a kind of braking force caused by the gravitational tug of war between Earth, the Moon and the Sun.
• Scientists estimate that the mean solar day has not been 86,400 seconds long since the year 1820 or so.
• This difference of 2 milliseconds, or two thousandths of a second - far less than the blink of an eye - hardly seems noticeable at first.

• Sri Lankan President, Maithripala Sirisena dissolved the Parliament on 26 June 2015. Sirisena signed a gazette notification dissolving parliament in an effort to consolidate power and push through political reforms.
• Sirisena dissolved the parliament within 160 days after assuming his office in January 2015. This dissolution ends the term of the coalition government that was appointed for a period of 100-days after the presidential election. The date of dissolution was extended to implement Constitutional reforms.
• To elect a new Parliament, elections will be held on 17 August 2015.

• An unmanned American SpaceX rocket dubbed Falcon-9 broke apart in flames minutes after lifting off from Cape Canaveral in Florida on 28 June 2015. The accident occurred in only two and half minutes after the launch.
• According to Elon Musk, SpaceX founder and chief, pressurization in the liquid-oxygen tank of the rocket was the main cause of the blast.
• The rocket, which had 18 straight successes prior to this accident, was in the process of sending a cargo ship to the International Space Station (ISS). The rocket was heading to ISS to bring food and supplies, including a robotic Dragin cargo capsule.

• Ajinkya Rahane will lead a 15-man India squad for the Zimbabwe tour. Many senior players have been rested for the tour.
• Veteran off-spinner Harbhajan Singh staged a comeback to the ODI squad after a gap of four years as a second-string team was today named for next month’s tour of Zimbabwe.
• Batsman Robin Uthappa also made a return to the ODI side, while paceman Sandeep Sharma and leg-spinner Karn Sharma were included in the team to be captained by Rahane.
• Opener Murali Vijay, Ambati Rayudu and Bhuvneshwar Kumar were among the senior players picked in the squad announced by BCCI Secretary Anurag Thakur after the selection committee meeting here.
• Manoj Tiwary, who had been struggling with injuries for some time, has been recalled into the side largely benefitting from the absence of the senior players.

• Olympic bronze-medallist Vijender Singh, the country's most celebrated boxer, today bid adieu to his amateur career by turning professional, ruling himself out of next year's Olympics as he no longer remains eligible to represent India.
• The biggest name in Indian boxing by a mile after he became the first to bag an Olympic medal -- the 29-year-old today signed a multi-year agreement with Queensberry Promotions through IOS Sports and Entertainment, that will see the middleweight fight a minimum of six times in the first year.
• Vijender's professional plunge means he would not be representing India at the Olympics and national coach Gurbax Singh Sandhu has said that it is bad news for the team overall.
• The International Boxing Association (AIBA) rules on boxers joining professional leagues other than the ones promoted by AIBA clearly state that they become ineligible for amateur competitions.
• One of India's most successful amateur boxers ever, Vijender was also the country's first to win a medal at the World Championships when he clinched a bronze in 2009.
• He won a gold medal at the 2010 Asian Games besides silver medals at the 2006 and 2014 Commonwealth Games; a bronze at the 2006 Asian Games and the 2010 Commonwealth Games.
• The 29-year-old from Haryana will now base himself in Manchester, England, under renowned trainer Lee Beard, who has previously worked with British boxing legend Ricky Hatton.

• Indian pair of Jwala Gutta and Ashwni Ponappa on 28 June 2015 won the women's doubles of Canada Open Badminton tournament 2015. In the final played at Calgary, the third seeded Indian pair defeated top Dutch pair of Eefje Muskens and Selena Piek in straight games of 21-19, 21-16.
• This was first title of the 2015 season for Gutta and Ponappa.

1. Men’s Singles: Lee Chong Wei (Malaysia) defeated Ng Ka Long Angus (Hong Kong)
2. Women’s singles: Michelle Li (Canada) defeated Kaori Imabeppu (Japan)
3. Mixed Doubles: Li Junhui and Liu Yuchen (China) defeated Kaixiang Huang and Sijie Wang (China)

• Book titled Transcendence: My Spiritual Experiences with Pramukh Swamiji authored by former President Dr APJ Abdul Kalam and Arun Tiwari was released on 15 June 2015.
• In Transcendence, the authors Dr Kalam and Arun Tiwari have mapped a journey of self-realization reflected in the eyes of Pramukh Swamiji, painting a delightful fusion of spirituality, science and leadership. His candid vignettes (literature) from life on the centre stage of Indian technology and societal missions, Indian politics and world affairs are interwoven with revelations of a profound connection with Swamiji.

• Book titled Dealing with China: An Insider Unmasks the New Economic Superpower authored by Henry M. Paulson was released on 14 April 2015.
• The book takes the reader behind closed doors to witness the creation and evolution and future of China’s state-controlled capitalism.

• President Pranab Mukharjee on 26 June 2015 conferred Punyabhushan Award on Prataprao Pawar, Chairman of Sakal Media Group (SMG) at Balgandharva Auditorium in Pune.
• Pawar is the 27th recipient of the Punyabhushan award and his name was selected for the award by a committee led by scientist Raghunath Mashelkar.
• The Punyabhushan (Pride of Pune) award constituted by Tridal, Pune is annually announced by the Punyabhushan Foundation on 23 March with a view to commemorate the memory of Indian revolutionary martyrs Bhagat Singh, Sukhdev, and Rajguru.

• Veteran Indian journalist Ramashish today died of cardiac arrest in Kathmanmdu.
• The 78-year-old Ramashish was admitted to a hospital here few days ago after he was hit by a bicycle near his house at Sitamarhi, Bihar and suffered injury on his back.
• He died of cardiac arrest in Himal Hospital here in the Nepal's capital. He was also a heart patient, hospital sources said.
• Ramashish has been serving in the field of media in Nepal for more than four decades and had been representing various Indian news organisations including the Hindustan Samachar and The Organiser.
• He was also actively covering various democratic movements of Nepal from time to time.

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