Current Affairs Update – 17th June, 2015

Hello and welcome to ExamPundit. Here are the Important Current Affairs of 17th June, 2015. These are important for the upcoming SBI PO Mains Exam 2015 and RBI Assistant 2015 Exam.

• Gearing up to roll out GST from April 1, 2016, the Finance
  Ministry today set up two committees to suggest tax rates and look into IT
  preparedness for the new indirect tax regime.
• Committee formed under the Finance Ministry’s Chief Economic
  Advisor would “recommend possible tax rates under GST that would be
  consistent with the present level of revenue collection of Centre and
  states,” a statement said.
• While making recommendations, it would take into account
  expected levels of growth of economy, different levels of compliance and
  broadening of tax base under Goods and Services Tax (GST), Finance Ministry in
  a statement said.
• “The Committee would also analyse the sector-wise and
  state-wise impact of GST on the economy. The Committee is expected to give its
  report within two months,” it said.
• The statement added, Steering Committee has been formed
  under the Co-Chairmanship of Additional Secretary of Revenue Department and
  Member Secretary of Empowered Committee (EC) of State Finance Ministers.
• The panel has members from Revenue Department, Central Board
  of Excise and Customs, Goods and Services Tax Network (GSTN) and representatives
  of state governments.
• It would monitor the progress of IT preparedness of
  GSTN/CBEC/Tax authorities, finalisation of reports of all the sub-committees on
  different aspects relating to the mechanics of GST and drafting of CGST, IGST
  and SGST laws/rules.

• The government today approved 16 foreign investment
  proposals, including those of Torrent Pharmaceuticals and Star India Private
  Limited, amounting to Rs 6,750.86 crore.
• “Based on the recommendations of Foreign Investment
  Promotion Board (FIPB). Government has approved 16 proposals of Foreign Direct
  Investment (FDI) amounting to Rs 6,750.86 crore,” Finance Ministry said in
  a statement.
• The proposals were cleared during the FIPB meeting held on
  May 28, it added.
• However, a total of 21 proposals were deferred during the
  meeting and six others were rejected.
• The government has approved Torrent Pharmaceuticals’
  proposal for increasing FII investment from 13.09 per cent to 35 per cent.
• While, Syngene International has been allowed to raise
  foreign investment to 44 per cent from 10 per cent by initial public offering
  of equity shares to FIIs, FPIs and NRIs.
• Broadcaster Star India Private Limited has been given
  approval for further issuance and transfer of shares to its foreign
  collaborator and acquisition of another Indian company engaged in broadcasting
  sector on a slump sale basis.

• India and Poland set trade target of 5 billion US dollars by
  2018. The decision was taken on 15 June 2015 at the fourth session of the
  bilateral Joint Commission on Economic Cooperation, held in Warsaw, capital
  city of Poland.
• The commission also identified a series of actions to raise
  trade from the 2014 level of 2.3 billion US dollars to 5 billion US dollars by
  the year 2018.
• The meeting of the commission was co-chaired by Amitabh
  Kant, Secretary, Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion (DIPP) and Jerzy
  Pietreiwicz, Secretary of State, Ministry of Economy of Poland.

• The UK today said it has maintained its position as the
  number one destination for FDI in Europe after attracting a record number of
  projects from over 70 countries including India, bringing in the largest
  financial value and associated jobs over the past year.
• Investment from India increased by 65 per cent, making it
  the UK’s third largest source of FDI accounting for over 9,000 new and
  safeguarded jobs.
• The annual investment figures from UK Trade and Investment
  (UKTI) for 2014-15 show Britain attracted 1,988 FDI projects – 12 per cent more
  compared to 2013-14, estimated to have brought with them almost 85,000 new jobs
  and 23,000 safeguarded jobs across the UK.
• The UK’s strong performance during 2014 has seen the
  country’s inward FDI stock – the value of accumulated FDI in the UK – break the
  1 trillion pound-level for the first time.
• This is the highest in Europe and the third in the world
  after the United States and China.

• ISRO has said it will provide navigational support to the
  country’s Railways through ‘GAGAN’ (GPS-aided geo-augmented navigation) system.
• GAGAN is an indigenous navigational guide system developed
  by ISRO on the lines of GPS system of the U.S.
• GAGAN was jointly developed by the ISRO and Airports
  Authority of India (AAI) with a view to assist aircraft in accurate landing.
• The GAGAN signal is being broadcast through two Geostationary
  Earth Orbit (GEO) satellites — GSAT8 and GSAT10.
• With the use of GAGAN software system, a tr ain would know
  the location of any unmanned level crossing and soon a a warning signal can be
  given.
• As soon as the warning signal will be given, the train’s hooter
  will automatically start when it comes near an unmanned crossing.

• The Union Cabinet on Wednesday approved the introduction of
  a new Bureau of Indian Standards Bill, 2015.
• The new Bill will provide the legislative framework to
  establish the BIS as the National Standards Body of India.
• According to an official statement, provisions of the new
  Bill will allow the Bureau of Indian Standards to perform its functions through
  a governing council which would include a President and other members.
• It would enable the Government to bring under the mandatory
  certification regime articles, processes or services which it considers
  necessary from a point of view of health, safety, environment, prevention of
  deceptive practices, security and others.
• The law also seeks to provide simplified conformity
  assessment schemes including Self Declaration of Conformity as long as manufacturers
  adhere to standards.
• The Central Government will have the right to appoint any
  authority in addition to BIS to verify the conformity of products and services
  to a standard and issue certificate of conformity.

• Cabinet has approved stepping up cumulative target under
  National Solar Mission from 20,000 MW to 1 lakh MW by 2022.
• It has also approved interest subsidy on housing loans for
  tenure up to 15 years under EWS/ LIG categories.
• Cabinet has approved introduction of a new Bureau of Indian
  Standards Bill, 2015, that will replace the existing BIS Act of 1986.

• The Election Commission of India (ECI) on 16 June 2015
  suspended the recognition of National People’s Party (NPP) as a state party in
  Meghalaya. The NPP is headed by former Lok Sabha Speaker PA Sangma.
• The decision was taken in lieu of its failure in filing the
  election expenditure statement related to 2014 Lok Sabha general elections
  within the prescribed limit of 90 days.
• The ECI took this decision under the powers vested in it as
  per the 16A of the Election Symbols (Reservation and Allotment) Order, 1968. It
  states that the commission can suspend or withdraw recognition of a recognised
  political party, either national or state, for its failure to observe Model
  Code of Conduct or follow lawful directions and instructions of the commission.

• Stepping up his digital presence, Prime Minister Narendra
  Modi on Wednesday launched the ‘Narendra Modi Mobile App’ to provide instant
  updates and an opportunity to receive messages and emails directly from him.
• The Android-based application is also aimed at giving a
  chance to people to interact with him and share ideas and suggestions.
• “Launched ‘Narendra Modi Mobile App’ Come, lets stay
  connected on the mobile! The Mobile App has several innovative features. You
  can download it from Play Store. Feedback is welcome,” Mr. Modi tweeted.

• Chennai’s NL Beno Zephine on 12 June 2015 became the first
  100 percent visually-challenged person to be inducted into the Indian Foreign
  Services (IFS).
• The 25-year-old, Beno was informed about her induction into
  the Indian Foreign Services by the External Affairs Ministry.
• At the time of being named as IFS officer, Beno was serving
  the State Bank of India as a probationary officer. She is a postgraduate in
  English from Madras University.
• Beno cleared her civil service examinations conducted in
  2013. While preparing for the exam, she took help of software named Job Access
  with Speech (JAWS), which was a replacement of Brialle. The software allows
  visually challenged to read from a computer screen, and can scan Tamil and
  English books.

• Senior IPS officer Archana Ramasundaram has been moved out
  of the CBI and appointed as Director, National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB).
• Ramasundaram, a 1980 batch Indian Police Service (IPS)
  officer of Tamil Nadu cadre, was appointed as Additional Director in CBI in
  February last year amid controversy.She was not assigned any work on the
  direction of the Supreme Court, which is hearing a writ petition against her
  appointment.
• The Appointments Committee of Cabinet (ACC) has approved
  lateral shift of Ramasundaram from the post of Additional Director, CBI to hold
  Director General or equivalent level post at the Centre; and premature
  curtailment of her tenure in the CBI, an order issued by Department of
  Personnel and Training said.

• The International Boxing Association (AIBA) on 16 June 2015
  constituted a five-member ad-hoc committee to manage the process of finding a
  group to organise and run boxing in India.
• Kishan Narsi, an international referee who officiated in
  four Olympics was appointed as the Chairman of the committee. He has been the
  Vice-Chairman of Executive Committee of AIBA.
• Other members of the committee include Jay Kowli, Manisha
  Malhotra and Injeti Srinivas. The fifth member of the committee will be
  appointed by AIBA on the recommendation of the ad hoc committee and would be a
  national coach.

• The book Recasting India: How Entrepreneurship is changing
  the world’s Largest Democracy written by Hindol Sengupta was in news in June
  2015.
• In the book the author explains emergence of new class of
  entrepreneurs in India, in recent times, especially from geographically and
  socially disadvantage spaces.

• For more than half a century, Indian architect Charles
  Correa championed modern architecture, planning cities and designing nearly 100
  buildings in the country, from luxury condominiums to housing for the poor.
• Mr. Correa died Tuesday night in Mumbai, according to his
  son-in-law Rahul Mehrotra. He was 84 years old.
• Among those who offered condolences was Indian Prime
  Minister Narendra Modi.
• Dubbed “India’s Greatest Architect” by the Royal Institute
  of British Architects in 2013, Mr. Correa worked on the master plan for Navi
  Mumbai, a satellite town of the western Indian city of Mumbai, in the 1960s.
  The town spread across an area of almost 133 square miles.
• He was also involved in several low-income housing projects,
  like one in Belapur in Navi Mumbai, where he aimed to bring individual identities
  to tightly-packed housing units and, at the same time, ensure equity between
  the houses.

Regards

Team ExamPundit

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