Current Affairs Update – 16th September, 2015

Hello and welcome to ExamPundit. Here are the Important Current Affairs of 16th September, 2015. These are important for the upcoming IBPS PO V Exam.

• Reserve Bank of India has granted in-principle licence for
  small finance banks to ten entities.
• The name of the applicants that have been granted the
  licence include- Au Financiers, Capital Local Area Bank , Disha Microfin,
  Equitas Holdings, ESAF Microfinance and Investments, Janalakshmi Financial
  Services, RGVN (North East) Microfinance, Suryoday Micro Finance, Ujjivan
  Financial Services and Utkarsh Micro Finance.
• The in-principle approval granted by RBI will be valid for a
  period of 18 months.
• Small Finance Banks will be similar to the existing
  commercial lenders and will undertake basic banking activities of accepting
  deposits and lending to unserved and under-served sections. The maximum loan
  size and investment limit exposure to single and group obligators cannot be
  more than 10 per cent and 15 per cent of its capital funds, respectively.

• Undertake basic banking activities of acceptance of deposits
  and lending
• Can lend only for financial inclusion including small
  business units, small and marginal farmers, micro and small industries and
  unorganised sector entities
• Allowed to distribute mutual fund products, insurance
  products and pension products

• Not allowed to set up subsidiaries to undertake non-banking
  financial activities
• Other financial and non-financial services activities of the
  promoters should not be mingled with the working of the bank

• Giving more flexibility, the Reserve Bank today allowed
  banks to invest in equities of financial service ventures including stock
  exchanges and depositories without any prior approval.
• The RBI said the investment flexibility will be limited to
  banks that have capital adequacy ratio (CRAR) of 10% or more and also made net
  profit in the previous fiscal.
• While making such investments banks will have to adhere to
  other conditions, which include limit on holding in investee company.
• Earlier banks were required to get a prior approval of the
  RBI for such investments which are subject to prudential limits.

• Bank CEOs and directors will now be able to avail personal
  loans from their own bank below the base rate- the floor rate below which banks
  do not lend to their customers.
• The Reserve Bank of India on Wednesday said that has banks
  are permitted to offer loans below base rate to their whole time directors and
  CEOs.
• Base rate – the rate that bank charge to their prime
  customers- was introduced in 2010 with the aim to enhance transparency in
  lending rates of banks. State Bank of India, country largest bank, has pegged
  its base rate to 9.70%.
• RBI also clarified that the rate charged to the CEO and
  directors should not be lower than the rate that is charged to their own
  employees. The loan and advances availed by the CEO and directors should be
  part of the compensation and remuneration policy approved by the board of
  director.

• Spice Digital, a subsidiary of Spice Connect, has launched
  mobile wallet ‘SpiceMudra’ which will focus on domestic remittances. The launch
  of wallet comes after the company received licence from the Reserve Bank of
  India to operate semi-closed pre-paid payment instruments (PPI) in May.
• Speaking to ET, Sakat Agarwal, Global CEO of Spice Connect
  said “Spice Digital has 3000 retail outlets across India that facilitate
  remittance service using Spice Mudra. Eventually we plan to scale up the
  business to facilitate bill payments, mobile recharge and ticket booking.”
• In the last quarter, several banks and e-commerce companies
  have launched mobile wallets such as Freecharge wallet from Snapdeal and Lime
  wallet from Axis Bank.

• Retirement body Employees Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO)
  on Wednesday substantially increased the maximum amount assured under its
  Employees’ Deposit Linked Insurance Scheme (EDLI) to Rs 6 lakh from the
  existing Rs 3.6 lakh.
• The decision, taken at the 208th Central Board of Trustees
  (CBT) meeting in Hyderabad, will benefit 40 million contributing members of the
  EPFO.
• The release mentioned last year the government paid around
  Rs 180 crore to about 30,000 beneficiaries.
• In another major relief, the trustees also decided to remove
  the condition of continuous employment of one year under current employer
  before being eligible for insurance benefits.

• The abbreviation IRRC was in news in September 2015. IRRC
  stands for India Rapid Reaction Cell and was established in January 2015 by
  Pentagon to exclusively focus on advancing Defence Trade and Technology
  Initiative (DTTI).
• IRRC is Pentagon’s first-ever country special cell and is
  headed by Keith Webster, Director of International Cooperation Office of the
  Under Secretary of Defence for Acquisition, Technology and Logistics.
• The cell was established as part of Joint Statement issued
  during the visit of the US President Barack Obama to India as chief guest of
  the Republic Day 2015 parade. Obama is the first US president to become the chief
  guest of the RD parade.

• Union Cabinet chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on 16
  September 2015 approved the Shyama Prasad Mukherji Rurban Mission (SPMRM).
• The Mission approved with an outlay of 5142.08 crore rupees
  is a bid to transform rural areas to economically, socially and physically
  sustainable spaces.
• The mission aims to create 300 Rurban growth clusters over
  the next 3 years, across the country.
• Main elements of Rurban Mission
• Development of Rurban growth clusters, which have latent
  potential for growth, in all States and UTs to trigger overall development in
  the region. These clusters are essentially Smart Villages.
• Rural growth clusters would be developed by provisioning of
  economic activities, developing skills & local entrepreneurship and
  providing infrastructure amenities.
• Further, these clusters would be well delineated areas with
  planned layouts, which would be duly notified by the State/UTs. These plans
  would be finally integrated with the District Plans/Master Plans as the case
  may be.

• Delhi Government on 15 September 2015 approved Victim
  Compensation Scheme. It enhanced the upper limit of compensation to rape
  victims to 5 lakh rupees from existing 3 lakh rupees and to the victims of acid
  attack to 7 lakh rupees from 3 lakh rupees.
• The decision was taken during a cabinet meet headed by Chief
  Minister Arvind Kejriwal.

• The scheme also includes victims of gang-rape, unnatural
  sexual offences and burns.
• Earlier, as per the scheme, victim’s kin were eligible to
  get a compensation of 3 to 5 lakh rupees for loss of life, but the new scheme
  has proposed 5 to 10 lakh rupees.
• The scheme also proposes same amount of compensation for
  those with loss of any limb resulting in 80 percent permanent disability.

• India and Sri Lanka on 15 September 2015 exchanged four
  agreements in various fields including medicare facilities. The agreements were
  exchanged with an aim to ensure peace and stability in the region.
• These agreements were exchanged during the visit of Prime
  Minister of Sri Lanka Ranil Wickremesinghe to India from 14 September to 16
  September 2015.

• Exchange of letters on orbit frequency coordination of
  satellite for SAARC region
• Exchange of MoU regarding supply of medical equipment to 200
  bed ward complex at district hospital, Vavuniya
• Exchange of letters on establishment of emergency ambulance
  services in Sri Lanka
• Exchange of MoU regarding renewed India’s grant assistance
  for implementation of SDP

• Swetha Prabhakaran, an Indian American teen, was on 15
  September 2015 awarded with the prestigious Champions of Change Award of US at
  the White House. She is among eleven young women selected by the White House as
  Champions of Change.
• Prabhakaran, a junior at Thomas Jefferson High School for
  Science and Technology in Virginia, founded a non-profit organisation Everybody
  Code Now! to empower the next generation of youth to become engineers,
  scientists and entrepreneurs.
• She was chosen for the award in recognition of her efforts
  for empowering the community by imparting education of Internet coding through
  her non-profit Organisation. This organisation has raised thousands of dollars
  for STEM (Science Technology Engineering and Math) activities in schools.

• Natura Brasil on 13 September 2015 selected for the 2015
  UNEP Champions of the Earth award in the entrepreneurial vision category.
• It was selected for unparalleled commitment to trailblazing
  sustainable business models.
• Natura is a Brazilian brand leader in cosmetics, fragrances
  and personal care in the direct selling model.

• National Geographic Society (NGS) on 14 September 2015 was
  selected for the UNEP Champions of the Earth award in the Science and
  Innovation category.
• NGS is a global nonprofit membership organization driven by
  a passionate belief in the power of science, exploration and storytelling to
  change the world. It is headquartered in Washington DC, the USA.

• The Chinese city of Hangzhou was today awarded the 2022
  Asian Games, organisers and state media said, in another win for China’s global
  sporting ambitions.
• Hangzhou in eastern China — best known for the West Lake, a
  placid and much-painted tourist attraction — was the only candidate city, a
  report by the country’s official Xinhua news agency said.
• Its sole candiancy made it a shoo-in for selection by the
  Olympic Council of Asia (OCA) at its congress in the Turkmenistan capital
  Ashgabat.
• An OCA spokesman confirmed the decision to AFP, saying the
  body, the Chinese Olympic Committee and Hangzhou had already signed the hosting
  contract at the meeting.
• The award comes shortly after Beijing won the right to host
  the 2022 Winter Olympics, having hosted the Summer Games in 2008, and means
  China will host two major multi-sport events in the same year.

• Narsingh Pancham Yadav on 13 September 2015 won bronze medal
  at the 2015 World Wrestling Championships held in Las Vegas, the USA. He won
  the medal in the Men’s 74kg Freestyle category.
• Though Narsingh lost the semi final game to Unurbat Purevjav
  (Mongolia), he could defeat Zelimkhan Khadjiev (France) 12-8 in the bronze
  medal play-off.
• Narsingh’s win confirmed quota place for India in the 2016
  Rio Olympics. This is the first time that an Indian wrestler has earned an
  Olympic berth with a medal at the World Championship.

• American Boxer Floyd Mayweather Jr on 12 September 2015
  announced retirement from the 19-year-long career in the ring.
• He took the decision after the win against Andre Berto in
  the Welterweight World Championships held at the MGM Grand Arena in Las Vegas,
  the USA.
• The present win was his 49th overall and he never lost a
  game since his first match in 1996.
• With this win, he tied with the late heavyweight champion
  Rocky Marciano in terms of number of wins in the professional league.

Regards

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