Current Affairs Update – 1-2 November, 2016

• The Reserve Bank of India (RBI)
  has asked banks to dispense more Rs 100 notes through ATMs within the next 15
  days.
• In a notification on Wednesday,
  RBI asked banks to calibrate 10% of their ATMs to dispense Rs 100 notes
  exclusively on a pilot basis.
• “In keeping with the objectives
  of Clean Note Policy and to ensure that genuine requirement of members of
  public for Rs100 denomination banknotes are met, the banks should increase
  dispensation of Rs100 banknotes through ATMs which are widely used for
  distribution of banknotes for retail use,” RBI said.
• The move comes after the
  regulator observed that very few banks have taken steps to dispense lower
  denomination notes post RBI’s circular dated 5 May 2016. As per the circular,
  RBI introduced a scheme called the Currency Distribution & Exchange Scheme
  (CDES) under which the regulator agreed to incentivize banks for installing
  ATMs which dispense notes of denominations upto Rs100. As per the scheme, RBI
  had promised to reimburse 50% of the cost of ATM machine or Rs 2 lakh whichever
  is lower.
• RBI has now asked banks to speed
  up the process of configuring the ATMs in the next two weeks as it believes
  that this process is not complex. The regulator has also asked banks to share
  the feedback of the pilot project after a lapse of two months.

• In a bid to boost ties with
  India, the Australian government on Wednesday announced 19 grants worth
  $6,30,000 dollars for several projects in the field of education, science,
  sports, arts and culture.
• The successful grants include an
  exchange between TAFE NSW and India’s Centurion University to share expertise
  for training indigenous learners, collaboration between University of New South
  Wales and Indian scientists to develop effective new water purification systems
  for the country’s water supply.
• It also includes development of a
  website by Women’s Legal Service Tasmania and TRS Law Offices in India to
  provide young Indian women with information about their rights.
• Sports programme will also be
  undertaken jointly in India by Hockey Australia and Dabang Mumbai Hockey Club
  to share expertise in hockey training.
• The grant has also been assigned
  to a project by Soft Tread Enterprises to tell the story of historical links
  between Australia and India through theatrical and literary performances and
  for a collaboration between Queensland University of Technology and KM Music
  Conservatory Chennai to develop new approaches to music curriculum and
  facilitate ongoing exchanges with New Colombo Plan students.

• The Indian government and three
  state-run firms will jointly set up an equity fund of up to $2 billion for
  renewable energy companies to tap into to help New Delhi meet its clean energy
  goals, two government sources told Reuters on Wednesday.
• Private and public companies will
  be able to dip into an initial amount of more than $1 billion starting next
  fiscal year, said the sources with direct knowledge of the decision taken after
  a meeting of government officials more than a month ago. India’s government
  hopes the Clean Energy Equity Fund (CEEF) will attract pension and insurance
  funds from Canada and Europe.
• Around $600 million of the
  initial pool will come from the National Investment and Infrastructure Fund,
  under the finance ministry, and the rest from state entities NTPC Ltd, Rural
  Electrification Corp and the Indian Renewable Energy Development Agency, according
  to one of the sources.
• The sources declined to be named
  as they are not authorised to talk to the media. Officials at the finance
  ministry, new and renewable energy ministry, NTPC, Rural Electrification, and
  Indian Renewable Energy Development Agency did not immediately respond to
  requests for comment.

• ICICI Bank has launched a credit
  facility against home loans for salaried customers.
• The Home Overdraft facility will
  enable a salaried customer to seek loans up to Rs. 1 crore for personal needs
  against his/her property.
• In a statement, the bank said:
  “This offering provides customers with the dual advantage of a term loan
  and an overdraft facility.”
• “While the term loan
  provides customers with quick funds for immediate needs, the overdraft facility
  offers them the flexibility to access funds instantly for expenses, as and when
  required.”
• Customers can use the funds for
  an array of personal requirements, including education, medical treatment, home
  renovation, marriage and overseas travel, the statement added.
• The minimum and maximum loan over
  the Home Overdraft facility is Rs. 5 lakh and Rs. 1 crore, respectively.
• Customers can avail themselves of
  minimum 10 per cent of the total amount as term loan and maximum 90 per cent as
  overdraft.
• The bank said for term loan,
  equated monthly instalment (EMI) will be applicable. For overdraft, interest is
  charged only on the utilised amount for the period the funds are used.

• The Benami Transactions
  (Prohibition) Amendment Act, 2016 came into effect on 1 November 2016. The Act
  was formulated to curb black money.
• An official release of Central
  Board of Direct Taxes said, after coming into effect, the existing Benami
  Transactions (Prohibition) Act, 1988 will be renamed as the Prohibition of
  Benami Property Transactions (PBPT) Act, 1988.
• The new legislation provides for
  seven years imprisonment and fine for those indulging in illegal transactions.
  The previous Act provided for up to three years if imprisonment or fine or
  both. It says that properties held as Benami are liable for confiscation by the
  government without payment of compensation.
• The act has amended the
  definition of benami transactions and establishes adjudicating authorities and
  an Appellate Tribunal to deal with benami transactions.

• It expands the definition of
  benami transaction by including following
• Transaction is made in a
  fictitious name
• Owner is not aware of and denies
  knowledge of the ownership of the property
• Person providing the
  consideration for the property is not traceable
• Earlier, it defined benami
  transaction as a transaction where a property is held by or transferred to a
  person, but has been provided for or paid by another person.

• Specific cases will be exempted
  from the definition of a benami transaction. These include cases when a
  property is held by
• A member of a Hindu undivided
  family, and is being held for his or another family member’s benefit, and has
  been provided for or paid off from sources of income of that family
• A person in a fiduciary capacity.
• A person in the name of his
  spouse or child, and the property has been paid for from the person’s income.
• Section 58 empowers government to
  exempt the genuine properties of religious organisation like a church or a
  mosque or a gurdwara or a temple from the action.  But the exemption to such entities cannot be
  a pretext for tax evasion.

• It defines benamidar as the
  person in whose name the benami property is held or transferred, and a
  beneficial owner as the person for whose benefit the property is being held by
  the benamidar.
• Under the Act, an Authority to
  acquire benami properties was to be established by the Rules.

• Initiating Officer
• Approving Authority
• Administrator
• Adjudicating Authority

• In any case, if he/she believes
  that a person is a benamidar, he may issue a notice to that person.
• The Initiating Officer may hold
  the property for 90 days from the date of issue of the notice, subject to
  permission from the Approving Authority.
• At the end of the notice period,
  the Initiating Officer may pass an order to continue the holding of the
  property.
• If an order is passed to continue
  holding the property, the Initiating Officer will refer the case to the
  Adjudicating Authority.

• The Authority will pass an order
  on whether or not to hold the property as benami after examining all documents
  and evidence relating to the matter.
• Based on an order to confiscate
  the benami property, the Administrator will receive and manage the property in
  a manner and subject to conditions as prescribed.

• The act also established an
  Appellate Tribunal that will hear appeals against any orders passed by the
  Adjudicating Authority
• Appeals against orders of the
  Appellate Tribunal will lie to the high court.

• Rigorous imprisonment from one
  year to seven years, and a fine which may extend to 25% of the fair market
  value of the benami property. The previous penalty under the Act for entering
  into benami transactions was imprisonment up to three years, or a fine, or
  both.
• Specifies the penalty for
  providing false information to be rigorous imprisonment of six months up to
  five years, and a fine which may extend to 10% of the fair market value of the
  benami property.
• Certain session courts would be
  designated as Special Courts for trying any offences which are punishable under
  the Act.

• Tata Consultancy Services (TCS),
  India’s largest IT Services provider on Wednesday said that University of New
  South Wales (UNSW) Australia and TCS have signed a memorandum of understanding
  to pursue technology research collaboration.
• The agreement will enable the
  University and TCS to work together in areas of common interest such as machine
  learning, virtual reality, robotics, data analytics and cloud computing.
• The MoU also opens the prospect
  of exchanges of scholars and internships for UNSW students at TCS’s global
  research facilities. The agreement was signed by TCS’ Chief Technology Officer
  Ananth Krishnan and UNSW’s Deputy Vice-Chancellor Enterprise Professor Brian
  Boyle, at the TCS Asia-Pacific Summit in Sydney.

• Zensar Technologies, an RPG
  Company, today announced that it has entered into a definitive agreement to
  acquire Foolproof Ltd. along with its two wholly-owned subsidiary companies in
  UK and one wholly-owned subsidiary Company in Singapore for an undisclosed sum.
• Under the terms of the agreement,
  Foolproof will now be a wholly-owned subsidiary of Zensar Technologies (UK)
  Ltd. The deal will be financed by internal accruals, and will be EPS positive
  for the company.
• Foolproof is one of Europe’s
  leading experience design agencies, headquartered in London with other offices
  in Norwich and Singapore. The company helps global brands design better, and
  more relevant, digital products and services, and counts many Global500 firms
  amongst its clients.

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• The Union Government on 31
  October 2016 notified the rules for Real Estate (Regulation and Development)
  (General) Rules, 2016 that seeks to regulate the housing sector besides bringing
  transparency and ensuring timely completion of projects in five Union
  Territories.
• The rules notified by the Housing
  Ministry will be applicable to Andaman and Nicobar Islands, Chandigarh, Dadra
  and Nagar Haveli, Daman and Diu, and Lakshadweep.
• Ministry of Urban Development
  will come out with such rules for the National Capital Region of Delhi while
  the other States and UTs will come out with their own rules.
• The Act, which is touted as a
  major reform measure to regulate the vast real estate sector, requires
  registration of all projects with state-level Real Estate Regulatory
  Authorities to ensure protection of the interests of both buyers and builders.

• Himachal Pradesh on 28 October 2016
  was declared India’s second Open Defecation Free (ODF) State. The first state
  to achieve the feat was Sikkim.
• Himachal Pradesh successfully
  achieved total rural sanitation coverage of 100 per cent in the state, with all
  12 districts in the state being both, declared as well as verified as ODF.
• The state is also the first among
  bigger Indian states to become ODF under Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Swachch
  Bharat Abhiyan.

• Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi
  Vijayan  on 2 November 2016 declared
  Kerala as Open Defecation Free” (ODF) state. With this, Kerala became third
  state to achieve this status.
• Over 1 lakh villages across the
  country have become ODF. The Kerala government had constructed about 175000
  toilets in the last four months to make Kerala the first among the big states
  to claim ODF status.
• About  800000 people benefitted from the
  Edamalakkudy initiative to free Kerala of open defecation, including those in
  tribal hamlets in inaccessible hilly areas like Edamalakkudy in Idukki
  district. Everyone from local politicians to college students pitched in their
  support to construct toilets.
• So far, two other states Sikkim
  and Himachal Pradesh were officially declared as free from open defecation.
• On the occasion, the state also
  launched four major programmes- Parippida Mission, Haritha Keralam, Ardram and
  Life in the education, health, housing and sanitation sectors.

• Microsoft-owned social network
  for work LinkedIn has signed an MoU with the Ministry of Human Resource Development
  for all colleges affiliated with the All India Council for Technical Education
  to use its platform for their placement process.
• Placements, a product that
  LinkedIn has built for India, allows students and placement officers at
  colleges maximise their reach when searching for prospective jobs. Students
  will also be able to take an online assessment test which will give them access
  to openings in partner corporates.
• The company says adoption of
  Placements, which was launched in September has been great, with over 200,000
  students registering on the platform and making over 1.2 million job
  applications. So far LinkedIn has signed up 35 companies for its online test programme
  and plans to add more.

• Indo-Nepal joint military
  exercise Surya Kiran-X commenced on 31 October 2016 at Army Battle School,
  Saljhandi, Nepal. The exercise will conclude on 13 November 2016.
• The joint military exercise is
  the tenth in the series of such exercise between the two nations.
• The Surya Kiran series of
  exercises are being conducted annually, alternatively in Nepal and India.
• In the series of military
  training exercises undertaken by India with various countries, Surya Kiran
  series with Nepal is the largest in terms of troop’s participation.          

• Indian Army is represented by the
  elite Kumaon Regiment.
• Jabar Jung Battalion of Nepal
  Army is participating in the tenth edition of the joint exercise on behalf of
  Nepal Army.
• The aim of the exercise is to
  conduct battalion level joint training with emphasis on Counter Terrorism in
  mountainous terrain.

• NITI Aayog on 31 October 2016
  launched the first ever Agricultural Marketing & Farm Friendly Reforms
  Index. The index was topped by Maharashtra.
• Maharashtra implemented most of
  the marketing reforms and offers best environment for doing agribusiness among
  all the states and Union Territories (UTs). 

• Maharashtra topped the index with
  a score of 81.7 out of 100.
• Gujarat ranks second with a score
  of 71.5.
• Rajasthan stood third with a
  score of 70.0 and Madhya Pradesh scored 69.5.
• Almost two third states could not
  reach even halfway mark of reforms score. Major states like Uttar Pradesh,
  Punjab, West Bengal, Assam, Jharkhand, Tamil Nadu and Jammu and Kashmir are in
  this group.
• Some states and UTs either did
  not adopt APMC Act or revoked it. They include Bihar, Kerala, Manipur, Daman
  and Diu, Dadra and Nagar Haveli, Andaman and Nicobar. Therefore, they are not
  included in the ranking.

• Arnab Goswami on 1 November 2016
  resigned as the Editor-in-Chief of Times Now, the Bennett Coleman & Co.
  Ltd-run news channel.
• Goswami was the anchor of
  Newshour, the prime time news programme which he anchored on weekdays at 9 pm
  everyday.

• Indian Revenue Service Officer
  Sushil Chandra on 1 November 2016 took over as the Chairman of the Central
  Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT).
• Chandra replaced Rani Singh Nair,
  who retired on 31 October 2016.
• The CBDT Chairperson is placed
  above the officers of the rank of Lieutenant-General, Vice-Admiral or Air
  Marshal, CBI Director and Deputy Comptroller and Auditor General in the Order
  of Precedence.

• Twitter India Head Rishi Jaitly
  on 1 November 2016 resigned from the company. He made the announcement on his
  twitter handle.
• Jaitly, who formerly worked at
  Google India, had joined Twitter in November 2012 to lead the microblogging
  giant’s expansion to India.
• In 2014, Jaitly took on
  additional responsibility as Twitter’s Market Director for India and South East
  Asia, leading the company’s growth and media partnerships across SE Asia.
• Prior to joining Twitter, Jaitly
  worked at Knight Foundation as Program Director. However, he is better known
  for his stint as the head of Public-Private Partnerships at Google India.

• Rashtriya Ekta Diwas was observed
  across India on 31 October 2016 to commemorate the birth anniversary of Iron Man
  of India Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel. 
• The theme for the 2016 Rashtriya
  Ekta Diwas was Integration of India.
• The decision to observe 31
  October as Rashtriya Ekta Diwas or National Integration Day was taken by the
  Union Government to reiterate India’s strength and buoyancy against
  adversaries.

• The International Day to End
  Impunity for Crimes against Journalists was observed globally on 2 November 2016.
• The Day is celebrated to spread
  awareness against the violence and crimes done to journalists and media workers
  and to bring to justice perpetrators of crimes against journalists and media
  workers, and ensure that victims have access to appropriate remedies.
• It aims to promote a safe and
  enabling environment for journalists to perform their work independently and
  without undue interference.

• Vigilance Awareness Week was
  observed across India beginning from 31 October 2016 to promote probity in
  public life and achieve a corruption free society.
• The theme of the Vigilance
  Awareness Week 2016 was Public participation in promoting integrity and
  eradicating Corruption.
• The observance of week commenced
  with pledge taking by public servants in the Ministries, Departments, PSUs,
  Banks and all other Organisations.
• Several functions were organised
  to create awareness among the people about the corrupt practices as it adversely
  affects the development of the country.
• In addition to these activities,
  the concept of Integrity Pledge was envisaged for enlisting support and
  commitment of the citizens and corporate and firms to prevent and combat
  corruption.

• Miroslav Klose, the all-time
  World Cup top-scorer, announced his retirement from football on 1 November
  2016. Klose, 38, the leading scorer of Germany with 71 goals in 137
  internationals, was without a club after his Lazio contract expired last
  season.
• Now, the former world-class
  striker plans to join Germany’s coaching staff after an invitation from head
  coach Joachim Loew. For the purpose, he will have to attend a set coaching
  programme for the national team as well as the required qualifications for an
  A-license.
• His first match of the coaching
  team for national side will be on 11 November 2016 for the World Cup qualifier
  against San Marino.

• Union Information and Broadcasting
  Minister M. Venkaiah Naidu on 1 November 2016 announced that renowned South
  Korean director Im Kwon-taek will be honoured with the Lifetime Achievement
  Award at the upcoming 47th International Film Festival of India (IFFI) in Goa.
• The IFFI will take place from 20
  November to 28 November 2016. The festival will pay a special tribute to late
  Polish filmmaker Andrzej Wajda and late Iranian filmmaker Abbas Kiarostami.
• The 47th edition of IFFI will
  have its country focus on Republic of Korea under which the best of Korean
  films will be screened.