Current Affairs Update – 16th June, 2016

Hello and welcome to exampundit . Here are the important Current Affairs of 16th June, 2016. These are important for the upcoming SBI Clerk and SBI PO Mains 2016 Exams.

• As a step to support start-ups in
  the financial technology (Fintech) space, country’s largest lender State Bank
  of India has set up an Rs 200 crore fund.
• This fund with a corpus of Rs 200
  crore will consider assistance of up to Rs 3 crore to an Indian registered
  company for promoting their business innovations using IT in India for banking
  and related technology, SBI Chairman Arundhati Bhattacharya said at a CII event
  here today. The fund is named as ‘IT Innovation Start-up Fund’.
• This move by SBI comes against
  the backdrop of a greater thrust from the Goverment of India on developing the
  start-up ecosystem. Investment in Fintech companies in India has touched $1.2
  billion in 2015, compared to $145.1 million in the previous year.
• Many multinational banks are also
  looking to invest in early-stage fintech start-ups in India, 4 and these trends
  are moving at a considerable pace, according to CII-PWC report on Fintech
  firms.

• The Union Cabinet on 15 June 2016
  approved the Enforcement of Security Interest and Recovery of Debts Laws and
  Miscellaneous Provisions (Amendment) Bill, 2016. It was introduced in the Lok
  Sabha on 11 May 2016.
• The bill seeks to improve ease of
  doing business and thereby, attract investments into the economy by fast
  tracking recovery of bad loans.

• Amendments to the SARFAESI Act,
  2002:  The SARFAESI Act allows secured
  creditors to take possession over a collateral, against which a loan had been
  provided, upon a default in repayment.
• This process is undertaken with
  the assistance of the District Magistrate, and does not require the
  intervention of courts or tribunals.
• The Bill provides that this
  process will have to be completed within 30 days by the District Magistrate.
• In addition, the Bill empowers
  the District Magistrate to assist banks in taking over the management of a
  company, in case the company is unable to repay loans.
• This will be done in case the
  banks convert their outstanding debt into equity shares, and consequently hold
  a stake of 51 percent or more in the company.

• Ministry of Railways on 15 June
  2016 launched two polices related to Parcel Leasing and Parcel Cargo Train
  Express. These policies were launched by Railway Minister Suresh Prabhu in a
  programme held in New Delhi.
• These policies were launched as
  part of Rail Budget announcement of the fiscal year 2016-17. It seeks to make
  the policy related to Parcel more liberalized and customer friendly.

• Duration of parcel leasing scheme
  has been increased from 3 years to 5 years with a view to bring stability and
  adequate time for business development.
• To insulate parcel from budgetary
  hike it provides for (a) assured leased rates with fixed escalation @10% from
  4th year; and (b) realistic assessment of bids.

• Duration of contract is being
  increased from 3 years to 6 years to give stability and adequate time for
  development of business.
• To insulate parcel from budgetary
  hike it provides for (a) assured leased rates with fixed escalation @10% from
  4th year; and (b) realistic assessment of bids.

• The Union Ministry of Human
  Resource Development (HRD) on 16 June 2016 launched the Vidyanjali Mobile
  App  that can be used by anyone to
  register for volunteer work at government schools.
• Vidyanjali initiative is in line
  with the Union HRD Ministry’s ongoing efforts under Padhe Bharat Badhe Bharat.
• Vidyanjali is being launched in
  pilot phase across 2200 schools in 21 states by HRD Minister.
• Volunteers can easily register
  for Vidyanjali by logging on to the MyGov website or app @mygovindia.
• Volunteers, however, cannot
  supplement the work of teachers by aiding them in the classroom as the Right to
  Education Act does not permit this sort of teaching.
• They will only be allowed to help
  with non-scholastic activities such as reading and theatre.

• The Government of Maharashtra on
  15 June 2016 decided to use plastic waste, along with tar, to build roads.
• The decision is aimed at
  improving the durability and longevity of asphalt roads and reducing soil
  pollution caused by plastic.
• The directive was given in the
  light of guideline released by the Union Government in November 2015 to deal
  with the growing problem of disposal of plastic waste in India’s urban areas.
• The guidelines made it mandatory
  for road developers to use waste plastic along with bituminous mixes for road
  construction.
• In the initial phase, municipal
  corporations with a population of over 5 lakh and municipal councils that have
  a population of over 2 lakh will execute the directive.
• The responsible agencies will
  build roads in 50-km radius by mixing 3 to 6 kg of plastic for every 100 kg of
  tar used.

• 1st Meeting of National Committee
  on Ramayana Circuit & Krishna Circuit under Swadesh Darshan Scheme was held
  on 14 June 2016. The meeting was held under the chairmanship of Union Minister
  of Tourism & Culture Dr Mahesh Sharma.
• During the meeting proposal to
  set up 11 Ramayana Circuits and 12 Krishna Circuits were approved.
• The destinations for these two
  circuits were earlier approved by the expert committee.

• Ayodhya, Nandigram, Shringhverpur
  & Chitrakoot (Uttar Pradesh)
• Sitamarhi, Buxar & Darbhanga
  (Bihar)
• Jagdalpur (Chattisgarh)
• Bhadrachalam (Telangana)
• Hampi (Karnataka)
• Rameshwaram (Tamil Nadu)

• Dwarka (Gujarat)
• Nathdwara, Jaipur & Sikar
  (Rajasthan)
• Kurukshetra (Haryana)
• Mathura, Vrindavan, Gokul,
  Barsana, Nandgaon & Govardhan (Uttar Pradesh)
• Puri (Odisha)

• International Chamber of Commerce
  (ICC) on Thursday said it has elected founder and chairman of Bharti
  Enterprises, Sunil Bharti Mittal, as its chairman in a voting held in Sao
  Paolo, Brazil. He is the third Indian business leader to hold this position in
  ICC’s near 100 years history.
• Founded in 1919, ICC is the
  world’s largest business organisation, which represents the private-sector’s
  views to national governments and intergovernmental bodies around the world.
• Sunil Bharti Mittal takes over
  from Terry McGraw, Chairman Emeritus of S&P Global, who will subsequently
  become ICC’s Honorary Chairman.

• DBS Bank India in the second week
  of June 2016 has appointed Niraj Mittal as the Managing Director and Head of
  Institutional Banking for the country.
• Mittal will report to Jeanette
  Wong, Group Executive and head of institutional banking group in Singapore, and
  Surojit Shome, CEO of DBS India.
• Prior to DBS Bank, Mittal served
  as Managing Director and Head of institutional banking business (North India)
  at The Royal Bank of Scotland NV (RBS).

• The United Nations Entity for
  Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women on 15 June 2016 appointed Anne
  Hathaway as global Goodwill Ambassador.
• The Academy Award-winning actor
  will advocate for the adoption and implementation of policies worldwide to
  bring change at both government and corporate levels.
• Hathaway has previously served as
  an advocate for Nike Foundation. She travelled to Kenya and Ethiopia to raise
  awareness on child marriage.

• Senior IAS officer Supriya Sahu
  on Thursday was been appointed as Doordarshan’s Director General, a post lying
  vacant for nearly two years.
• A 1991 batch IAS officer, Sahu is
  currently working in her cadre state Tamil Nadu.
• The Appointments Committee of the
  Cabinet approved the proposal for appointment of Sahu as Director General,
  Doordarshan, an order issued by department of Personnel and Training said.

• Canadian poet, novelist and
  environmental activist Margaret Atwood on 16 June 2016 was awarded the 2016 PEN
  Pinter Prize.
• Atwood will receive her award at
  a public event at the British Library on 13 October 2016.
• Atwood was chosen by judges Vicky
  Featherstone, Zia Haider Rahman, Peter Stothard, Antonia Fraser and President
  of English PEN and Chair of Judges, Maureen Freely.

• Gregory Rabassa, prominent
  literary translator, passed away on 14 June 2016 in Branford, Connecticut
  following a brief illness. He was 94.
• Rabassa is known for his
  translations of several well-known Latin American writers, including Gabriel
  Garcia Marquez, Mario Vargas Llosa, Julio Cortazar, Octavio Paz, Clarice
  Lispector and Jorje Amado.

Regards

Team ExamPundit