Hello and welcome to ExamPundit. Here are the Important Current Affairs of 2nd June, 2015. These are important for upcoming SBI PO 2015 Mains Exam.


RBI –

RBI 2nd Bi-Monthly Policy - Highlights


  • RBI today announced the second  bi-monthly monetary policy.


Following are the highlights of RBI’s second bi-monthly monetary policy statement for 2015-16:
  • Short—term lending rate (repo) cut by 0.25 per cent to 7.25 per cent
  • Cash Reserve Ratio unchanged at 4 per cent
  • Statutory Liquidity Ratio retained at 21.5 per cent
  • Inflation expected to rise to 6 per cent by January 2016
  • Strong food policy management needed to keep inflation and inflationary expectations under check
  • Growth forecast lowered to 7.6 per cent for 2015-16 from 7.8 per cent projected in April
  • Banks asked to pass on benefit of rate cuts to borrowers
  • Targeted infusion of bank capital into PSU banks needed to ensure credit flows to productive sectors



RBI Estimates Current Account Deficit at 1.5% in FY16

  • Current account deficit is estimated to be around 1.5 per cent of the GDP in the current fiscal, helped by sharp fall in oil prices even as gold imports rose in the past few months, the Reserve Bank said today.
  • Gold imports spiked in the month of March and remained elevated in April owing to regulatory relaxations and festival demand, the central bank said.
  • In the first half of the 2014-15 fiscal, CAD was at 1.9 per cent of the GDP (USD 18 billion).
  • The CAD, which is the difference between the inflow and outflow of foreign exchange, was 1.7 per cent of GDP (USD 32.4 billion) in 2013-14.
  • India's merchandise export growth weakened steadily since July 2014 and entered into contraction from January through April 2015.



RBI Lowers GDP Growth Forecast to 7.6% for FY16


  • The Reserve Bank today lowered the economic growth forecast for the current fiscal to 7.6 per cent from 7.8 per cent projected in April, citing various risks, including poor monsoon and rising crude oil prices.
  • CSO (Central Statistics Office) has come out with GVA to measure economic growth.
  • Real GVA, that is GVA at basic constant prices (2011-12) in 2014-15 is now estimated at Rs 98.27 lakh crore (as against Rs 98.58 lakh crore estimated earlier on February 9, 2015), showing a growth rate of 7.2 per cent (as against 7.5 per cent estimated earlier).
  • Talking about the risks, Rajan, while unveiling second bi-monthly monetary policy review said, some forecasters, notably the IMD, predict a below-normal southwest monsoon putting pressure on food inflation.



RBI allowed Cross Holding in Long Term Infra Bonds

  • The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on 1 June 2015 allowed cross holding in long-term infrastructure bonds.
  • With this, now banks would be able to cross hold these bonds among themselves for financing infrastructure and affordable housing loans, which earlier was not permitted.
  • The move was taken amidst the concerns that such prohibition on cross-holding was inhibiting the liquidity and tradability of these bonds, as banks are the major participants in the debt market.

However, to keep the primary objective of allowing regulatory exemptions on CRR and SLR requirements as well as priority sector lending and to prevent double counting of regulatory exemptions allowed intact, such investments will be having the following conditions:
  1. Banks cannot hold their own bonds.
  2. Banks’ investment in such bonds will not be treated as assets with the banking system in India for the purpose of calculation of Net Demand and Time Liability (NDTL).
  3. Such investments will not be held under Held to Maturity (HTM) category.
  4. An investing bank’s investment in a specific issue of such bonds will be capped at 2 percent of the investing bank’s Tier 1 Capital or at 5 percent of the issue size, whichever is lower.
  5. An investing bank’s aggregate holding in such bonds will be capped at 10 percent of its total Non-SLR investments.
  6. Not more than 20 percent of the primary issue size of such bond issuance can be allotted to banks.



Finance/Industry –

Maharashtra Tops MF Chart With Equity Assets of Rs 1.21 L Cr

  • Maharashtra continued to dominate the mutual fund landscape in the country with an assets base of Rs 1.21 lakh crore at the end of April in equity-oriented schemes, followed by Delhi in the second place.
  • A big share of mutual fund presence originates from Maharashtra because the state houses the headquarters of most of the large companies, thereby getting a bulk of investments through non-retail or institutional routes, experts noted.
  • In terms of state-wise equity assets, Maharashtra led with Rs 1.21 lakh crore, taking up a 35 per cent share of the market, as per the data compiled by Prime Database.
  • Delhi followed, though far behind, with Rs 28,058 crore and Karnataka with Rs 27,625 crore. Further, Gujarat has an assets base of Rs 25,402 crore in equity-oriented schemes, while the same for West Bengal was at Rs 21,189 crore.



Harley-Davidson Partners Myntra for Merchandise Sale

  • Cult bike maker Harley-Davidson has tied up with fashion portal Myntra to sell its casual merchandise through an exclusive online store.
  • Launched today, the online store offers a range of casual outerwear, sportswear, denims and accessories, Harley-Davidson said in a statement.
  • Harley-Davidson merchandise and accessories are also offered through the brand's dealership network across 17 locations in India.
  • Harley-Davidson Sales and Dealer Development Director Rajiv Vohra said the alliance will help the company reach out to more customers across the country.



India –

India, Sweden signed 6 agreements during visit of Pranab Mukherjee to Sweden


  • India and Sweden on 1 June 2015 signed 6 agreements to boost ties and restart the bilateral strategic dialogue. The agreements were inked in presence of President Pranab Mukherjee, who is on a state visit to Sweden.
  • Mukherjee is the first ever Indian head of state to visit Sweden and will be in the country from 31 May to 2 June 2015.


List of agreements/MoUs signed
  1. MoU on Cooperation in the field of Sustainable Urban Development
  2. MoU on cooperation in the field of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises
  3. Agreement on Visa Exemption for diplomatic passports
  4. Letter of Intent on Collaboration in Polar and Ocean Research
  5. Memorandum of Intent (MoI) on cooperation in ageing research and health: It was signed between the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) and the Swedish Research Council for Health Working Life and Welfare (FORTE).
  6. MoI between the Central Drugs Standard Control Organization (CDSCO), India and the Swedish Medical Products Agency (MPA)



AP Govt Launches 'Nav Nirman Deeksha' Marking a Year of Bifurcation

  • Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu today
    launched 'Nav Nirman Deeksha', marking the division of the state last year.
  • The week-long statewide 'Nav Nirman Deeksha' will be held each year from June 2.
  • Under the programme, people across the state are taking oath for reconstruction of the state and to work towards its development.
  • The programme is being held at government offices and public places.
  • The chief minister in his address said 'Nav Nirman Deeksha' is not against Telangana and exhorted that Telugu people living in the two states need to be united and work together for the comprehensive development of the two states.



Appointments –

K Sivan appointed as Director of Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre


  • K Sivan on June 1 2015 appointed as the Director of the Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre (VSSC), of Indian Space Research Organisation in Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala.
  • He took the charge on the day of his appointment and succeded M Chandradathan, who superannuated in May 2015.
  • Before this appointment, he was the Distinguished Scientist and Director at Liquid Propulsion Systems Centre (LPSC), Thiruvananthapuram.
  • He is the chief architect of 6D trajectory simulation software SITARA which is the backbone of the real time and non real time trajectory simulations of all ISRO launch vehicles.



Rear Admiral Philipose G Pynumootil takes over as Assistant Chief of Naval Staff

  • Rear Admiral Philipose G Pynumootil has taken over as Assistant Chief of Naval Staff (Air) on June 1, 2015.
  • An alumnus of the Lawrence School, Lovedale and the National Defence Academy (67th course), he was commissioned in the Indian Navy on January 1, 1986, a navy release said.
  • The ACNS (Air) is responsible for all the staff functions of the Air Arm of the Navy.
  • The Flag Officer has undergone the staff course at the DSSC, Wellington, Tamil Nadu and the higher Air Command course at the College of Air Warfare, Hyderabad.



P. Kunhikrishnan appointed as the Director of Satish Dhawan Space Centre


  • P. Kunhikrishnan has been appointed the Director of Satish Dhawan Space Centre (SDSC), Sriharikota, from where the launch vehicles of the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) lift off. He took charge on June 1, 2015 from M.Y.S. Prasad, who retired.
  • Mr. Kunhikrishnan was till now with the Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre (VSSC), Thiruvananthapuram, as the Deputy Director for Mechanisms, Vehicle Integration and Testing Entity.
  • He led 13 Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV) missions as their Mission Director after he assumed charge as the Project Director of the PSLV in June 2010 and all these PSLV missions were successful.
  • Most of these PSLVs put multiple satellites into orbit. The PSLV-C25, of which he was the Mission Director, put India’s spacecraft to Mars into a perfect initial orbit in November 2013.



Sports –

Ravi Shastri Appointed Interim Coach of Team India


  • Former India captain Ravi Shastri was named as the interim national coach for the upcoming tour to Bangladesh, on Tuesday.
  • The veteran cricketer had previously served as Team Director since August of last year and till the end of the World Cup 2015 when his contract expired.
  • Shastri will travel to Bangladesh with the national cricketers, who arrive in Kolkata on June 5 and thereafter depart for Bangladesh for the three ODIs and a solitary Test.
  • In the other support staff appointments, Sanjay Bangar and Bharat Arun will continue to serve as the batting and bowling coaches respectively.



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