Current Affairs Update – 10th February, 2016

Hello and welcome to ExamPundit. Here are the Important Current Affairs of 10th February, 2016. These are important for the upcoming LIC AAO 2016 Exam.

• The Reserve Bank of India (RBI)
  on 8 February 2016 released the Report of the Working Group on Introduction of
  Interest Rate Options in India. The report was prepared by RBI committee
  chaired by Prof PG Apte.

• To begin with, simple call and
  put Options, caps, floors, collars and swaptions may be permitted. Complex
  structures may be introduced subsequently.
• Both Over-the-Counter (OTC) as
  well as exchange traded options may be introduced. While in the OTC segment only
  European options may be permitted, both American and European structures may be
  permitted on Exchanges.
• Fixed Income Money Market and
  Derivatives Association of India (FIMMDA)/Financial Benchmark India Private
  Limited (FBIL) may come out with the list of eligible domestic money or debt
  market rates as benchmarks like G-Sec, T-Bills, MIBOR,OIS, MIFOR, IRF etc.
• While banks, PDs and other
  regulated entities having sound financials and prudent risk management may be
  allowed as market makers subject to the approval of concerned regulator, all
  domestic entities having underlying interest rate risk may be permitted as
  users.
• While no documentation relating
  to underlying exposure may be required for exposures up to 5 crore rupees,
  large corporate may also be allowed to take hedging positions for their anticipated
  interest rate exposures.
• The minimum lot size of the
  contract is to be kept at 2 lakh rupees on Exchanges and on the OTC, it is 5
  crore rupees and in multiples of 5 crore rupees thereof among the market
  makers. Transactions between user and market maker may be standardized.

• Central Statistics Office (CSO)
  under the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation (MoSPI) on 8
  February 2016 released the Advance Estimates (AE) of National Income for the
  financial year (FY) 2015-16.
• It also released the Quarterly
  Estimates (QE) of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) for the third quarter (Q3)
  of the FY 2015-16.

• The growth in GDP during 2015-16
  is estimated at 7.6 % as compared to the growth rate of 7.2 % in 2014- 15.
• Real GDP or Gross Domestic
  Product (GDP) at constant (2011-12) prices in the year 2015- 16 is likely to
  attain a level of 113.51 lakh crore rupees.
• Real Gross Value Added (GVA) or
  GVA at basic constant prices (2011-12) is anticipated to increase from 97.27
  lakh crore rupees in 2014-15 to 104.38 lakh crore rupees in 2015-16.
• Anticipated growth of real GVA at
  basic prices in 2015-16 is 7.3 % against 7.1 % in 2014-15.
• The sectors which are likely to
  register growth rate of over 7.0 % are financial, real estate and professional
  services, trade, hotels, transport, communication and services related to broadcasting,
  and manufacturing.

• Vodafone, country’s second
  largest telecom operator, launched its fourth generation broadband services in
  Mumbai. The service was unveiled by chief minister Devendra Phadnavis, a
  Vodafone customer himself.
• The company launches its services
  months after Bharti Airtel launched its 4G services across 300 towns in India.
• At the launch, Chief Minister
  Phadnavis said mobile was a key aspect of its JAM trinity (Jandhan, Aadhaar,
  Mobile) which was transforming governance. He said that he would have liked if
  Vodafone had launched 4G in Mumbai first as it was the commercial capital of
  the country.
• Mumbai is a critical market for
  all telecom players, as it has the highest level of smartphone penetration
  (60%) and data accounts for 30% of Vodafone’s revenues in the Mumbai circle
  against 20% for the rest of the country.

• Karnataka Vikas Grameen Bank
  (KVGB) has signed a memorandum of agreement (MoA) with the National Scheduled
  Castes Finance and Development Corporation (NSFDC) for obtaining funds. These
  funds will be used for onward lending to Schedule Caste borrowers.
• A press release by the bank said
  here on Wednesday that NSFDC is a fully owned public sector undertaking under
  the Union Ministry of Social Justice. The corporation assists the target group
  by way of loans, skill training, and entrepreneurship development programmes.
• Ashok Reddy, Chairman of KVGB,
  said that MoA with NSFDC will provide easy finance for the businesses of
  Schedule Caste members with rate of interest varying from 3 per cent to 10 per
  cent per annum.
• C Ramsesh Rao, Assistant General
  Manager of NSFDC, said the corporation would extend 100 per cent refinance to
  the bank, up to ₹2 lakh
  for the self-employment activities of persons belonging to Scheduled Caste.
• Suryakant Ganga, General Manager
  of KVGB, and Rao of NSFDC signed the MoA in the presence of Reddy in Dharwad on
  Wednesday.

• Kerala-based jewellery brand
  Kalyan Jewellers on Wednesday announced its foray in the e-commerce segment and
  will offer gold and diamond jewellery on retail major Flipkart’s e-commerce
  platform.
• The products will be available
  from February 12, the company said in a statement.
• Kalyan will make available its
  popular jewellery designs in gold and diamond encompassing rings, pendants,
  earrings and necklaces ranging from Rs 3,500 to Rs 2 lakh, it added.
• Kalyan Jewellers Chairman and
  Managing Director T S Kalyanaraman said online jewellery sales is growing at
  more than 70 per cent per annum, valued at more than Rs 1,200 crore.

• To connect Kolkata with Tripura
  via Bangladesh through railway, the Union Government on 10 February 2016
  sanctioned about 580 crore rupees. The money was sanctioned for constructing
  the 15-kilometer railway track between Kolkata and Tripura.
• The project that is expected to
  be completed by 2017 will pass through Bangladesh.
• The Agartala-Akhaura rail-link
  between Indian Railway and Bangladesh Railway will reduce the current 1700 km
  road distance between Kolkata to Agartala via Siliguri to just 350-kilometer by
  railway.
• The project ranks high on Prime
  Minister’s ‘Act East’ Policy, and is expected to increase connectivity and
  boost trade between India and Bangladesh.

• The 9th Indo-Nepal Combined
  Battalion level Military Training Exercise Surya Kiran commenced at
  Pithoragarh, Uttarakhand on 8 February 2016.
• The 14-day long exercise will
  take place till 21 February 2016 under the aegis of Panchshul Brigade of
  Central Command.
• An Infantry battalion from Indian
  Army will represent the exercise while Nepalese Army is being represented by
  officers and troops of the elite Shree RudraDhoj battalion.

• Sikkim’s Chief Minister Pawan
  Chamling on 9 February 2016 announced that the state government will construct
  a ‘Mini Sikkim’, which will be a centre for showcasing the state’s diverse and
  rich culture.
• The ‘Mini Sikkim’ will be
  constructed under the Namthang Ratheypani constituency in South Sikkim
  district.
• The announcement was made while
  inaugurating a newly constructed market at Maniram Bhanjyang in the district.
• As per reports, the new project
  will consist of traditional houses of fifteen ethnic communities of Sikkim.
  Traditional museums will also be put in place alongside commercial outlets
  throughout the State.
• This initiative will help the
  state in garnering domestic and international tourists throughout the year.

• India on 10 February 2016
  observed the first National Deworming Day in schools and preschools
  (anganwadis).
• The day is observed to combat
  parasitic worm infections among preschool (anganwadi) and school-age children.
• During this albendezole 400 mg
  chewable tablets are provided to children at government, government-aided, and
  private schools, and anganwadis. Out-of-school children will be administered
  the deworming tablet at anganwadis.
• The albendazole tablets will be given
  free-of-cost to children.
• The National Deworming Day will
  be followed by a mop-up day on 15 February 2016 to administer the deworming
  tablet to children who were absent from the school or anganwadi on 10
  February. 

• India’s largest e-commerce
  company Flipkart has lost two key executives, including Mukesh Bansal, who led
  the commerce and advertising business after co-founder Binny Bansal took over
  as the chief executive last month.
• Mukesh Bansal, 40, who sold his
  online fashion retailer Myntra for Rs 2,000 crore to Flipkart, confirmed his
  exit on Wednesday.
• Flipkart on its blog said that
  its chief business officer Ankit Nagori resigned to start a sports engagement
  platform that Flipkart founders Binny and Sachin Bansal would back.

• Justice Dhirendra Hiralal Waghela
  on 8 February 2016 was appointed the Chief Justice of the Bombay High Court.
• Justice Waghela, currently
  serving as the Chief Justice of the Orissa High Court, has been asked to assume
  charge by 16 February 2016.
• The Bombay High Court has been
  functioning with an officiating Chief Justice since October 2015, after the
  retirement of Justice Mohit S Shah in September 2015.

• Isuzu Motors India on 9 February
  announced a change in the senior management position of the company in its
  Indian operations. The Japanese company has appointed Hitoshi Kono as the new
  Deputy Managing Director, and will succeed Shigeru Wakabayashi in the country.
• Hitoshi Kono will take on the new
  role of Deputy MD from February 14, while Wakabayashi will assume the role of
  Division COO, Isuzu Business Division, Mitsubishi Corporation in Japan.
• Kono is currently the General
  Manager of Isuzu Asia Department at the Isuzu Business Division.
• Wakabayashi has been instrumental
  in setting up Isuzu operations in India since 2012 when he set up a new
  manufacturing plant in Andhra Pradesh. Isuzu recently launched Isuzu D-MAX
  pick-up at the Auto Expo 2016.

• The Noor Ouarzazate Solar
  Complex, world’s largest solar power plant, was opened on 4 February 2016 in
  the Souss-Massa-Drâa area in Morocco, 10 km from Ouarzazate town.
• The plant holds the capacity to
  produce enough energy to power over one million homes by 2018 and reduce carbon
  emissions by an estimated 760000 tons per year.
• Phase One of the project involved
  the construction of a 160MW concentrated solar power (CSP) plant named Noor I,
  while Phase Two involved the construction of the 200MW Noor II CSP plant and
  the 150MW Noor III CSP plant, and Phase Three will involve the construction of
  the Noor IV CSP plant.
• The World Bank partially financed
  construction of the plant through a 97 million US dollar loan from the Clean
  Technology Fund.

• The President of United States
  (US) Barack Obama on 9 February 2016 unveiled a Cyber Security National Action
  Plan.
• The action plan called for an
  overhaul of aging government networks and a high-level commission to boost
  security awareness.
• The action plan was unveiled on
  eve of Safer Internet Day designated by governments and technology firms to
  boost awareness on cybersecurity issues.

• The plan seeks to address both
  short-term and long-term threats, with the goal of providing every American a
  basic level of online security.
• Obama issued an executive order
  creating a 12-member Cybersecurity Commission to make recommendations to both
  the public and private sectors. The panel will submit the report to the
  president by 1 December 2016.
• The plan also called for a new
  federal chief information security officer to direct cybersecurity across the
  federal government.

• India continues its dismal run in
  International IP Index, placed at the 37th position among 38 economies studied
  for their IP environment and commitment to innovation, by the US Chamber of
  Commerce. 
• Patent protection in India
  remains outside of international best practices, and Indian law does not
  provide adequate enforcement mechanisms to effectively combat online piracy,
  the report said.
• Produced by the Chamber’s Global
  Intellectual Property Center (GIPC), the study – in its fourth edition – found
  India’s score was largely unchanged from previous editions of the study.
  Venezuela finished last out of the 38 economies studied, while the United States
  was the top ranked country.
• India’s overall score decreased
  to 7.05 as against 7.23 in the third edition. The report noted that this
  decrease was largely driven by the introduction of the Global Measure of
  Physical Counterfeiting in the current edition, in which India was ranked, 7th,
  out of the 38 economies mapped.
• The United States topped the
  index, while UK, France, Germany and Sweden also came in ahead of Singapore.

• Four Indian-Americans have been
  selected to the prestigious U.S. National Academy of Engineering (NAE) to be
  part of its new list of 80 members for their valuable contributions to the
  society.
• Anil K. Jain, Dr. Arati
  Prabhakar, Ganesh Thakur and Dr. K.R. Sridhar were formally made part of the
  NAE during a ceremony at its annual meeting, the academy announced in a
  statement on 9 February, 2016.
• Mr. Jain, a distinguished
  professor in the department of computer science and engineering at the Michigan
  State University in East Lansing, was elected for his contributions to the
  field of engineering and practice of biometrics. An IIT-Kanpur alumnus, Mr.
  Jain’s research focuses on pattern recognition, computer vision and biometric
  recognition.
• Dr. Prabhakar, director of the US
  Defence Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) in Virginia, was chosen for
  national leadership to advance semiconductor and information technologies.
• Mr. Thakur, who is the president
  of Thakur Services Inc. in Houston, Texas, was named a member for leadership in
  the implementation of integrated reservoir management techniques.
• Dr. Sridhar, the principal
  co-founder and chief executive officer of Bloom Energy Corporation in
  California, was selected for the “contributions to transport phenomena and
  thermal packaging of electrochemical systems and generation of clean, reliable
  and affordable power“.

Regards

Team ExamPundit

Sponsored

(adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({});