Current Affairs Update – 1st June, 2016

Hello and welcome to exampundit. Here are the important Current Affairs of 1st June, 2016. These are important for the upcoming UIIC AO 2016, SBI Clerk & SBI PO Mains 2016 Exams.
Current Affairs at a Glance – 1st June, 2016
  1. The government on Wednesday cleared a proposal to set up the India Post
    payments bank with a corpus of Rs.800 crore
    and has plans to have
    650 branches operational by September 2017, telecom minister Ravi Shankar
    Prasad said.
  2. The union cabinet chaired by
    Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday approved
    an investment of Rs 3,770 crore for development of the first phase of the Chennai Metro Rail project
    .
  3. The Central Statistical Office (CSO) on 31 May 2016 released the
    provisional estimates of national GDP for 2015-16. It
    pegged GDP growth at 7.9 percent in Quarter 4 of 2015-16 and 7.6 percent in
    the whole of 2015-16
    .
  4. The Government of India and the World Bank on 31 May 2016 signed a 9.2
    million US dollar grant
    agreement under the World Bank-Global Environment
    Facility (GEF) Programme
    for the Efficient and Sustainable City Bus Service Project
    .
  5. India and Morocco on 31 May 2016 launched the India-Morocco Chamber of
    Commerce and Industry (IMCCI) in Rabat, Morocco
    .
  6. The Uttar Pradesh (UP) Government on 31 May 2016 approved the
    Detailed Project Report (DPR) of Varanasi Metro rail project
    . The
    DPR will now be sent to the Union government for approval.
  7. The Direct Tax Dispute Resolution Scheme 2016 came into effect on 1
    June 2016. The scheme was incorporated as Chapter X of the Finance Act, 2016.
  8. Union Government approved the proposal of extending age of
    superannuation of all doctors of Central Health Services to 65 years with effect from 31 May 2016
    .
  9. Bengaluru, India’s technology hub is
    witnessing a larger inflow of qualified professionals than it is losing talent
    to other cities in the country
    , according to social network firm Linkedin
    that compiled data based on changes users made on their profiles on its
    platform.
  10. To make the country
    disaster-resilient and reduce loss of lives, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on
    Wednesday released a National Disaster
    Management Plan (NDMP).
  11. Rahul Johri takes charge as first
    ever BCCI CEO.
  12. An IPS officer, Sudeep
    Lakhtakia
    (1984), currently serving
    as Additional Director-General (Law & Order) in Telangana, has been appointed
    Additional Director-General in the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF)
    .
  13. CEAT Cricket Awards 2016 were
    conferred on the players
    in a function of 20th edition of CEAT awards
    at Mumbai on 30 May 2016. Former India captain Dilip Vengsarkar was conferred with the Lifetime Achievement Award.
  14. The Global Day of Parents was observed globally on 1 June 2016.

Finance/Banking/Economy –
Cabinet nod for India Post payments bank

  • The government on Wednesday
    cleared a proposal to set up the India Post payments bank with a corpus of
    Rs.800 crore and has plans to have 650 branches operational by September 2017,
    telecom minister Ravi Shankar Prasad said.
  • “The Cabinet has cleared proposal
    of postal payments bank. We have 1.54 lakh post offices of which 1.39 lakh are
    rural post offices. 650 branches of postal payments bank will be established in
    the country which will be linked to rural post offices,” Prasad said.
  • The minister said the payments
    bank, which will be run by a chief executive officer, will be professionally
    managed and there will be a representation from various other government
    departments including the Department of Posts, Department of Expenditure,
    Department of Economic Services etc.
  • “Total architecture of postal
    payments bank is of Rs 800 crore which will have Rs 400 crore equity and Rs 400
    crore grant. By September 2017, all 650 branches of postal payments bank will
    become operational. This we had planned for three years but now we will be doing
    it in a year,” Prasad said.
  • He said that all rural post
    offices will be given handheld devices by March 2017.

Cabinet approves Rs 3,770 crore Chennai Metro Phase-I project

  • The union cabinet chaired by
    Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday approved an investment of Rs 3,770
    crore for development of the first phase of the Chennai Metro Rail project.
  • The 9.051 km corridor between
    Washermanpet and Wimconagar will be executed by Chennai Metro Rail Ltd (CMRL),
    the existing special purpose vehicle (SPV) of the centre and the state government
    with equal share of equity.
  • The centre will have a share of
    Rs 713 crore in the total project cost while the state government’s share would
    stand at Rs 916 crore.The state’s share includes Rs 203 crore as cost of land
    acquisition and resettlement and rehabilitation (R&R).
  • The balance amount of Rs 2,141
    crore for the project would be sourced as loan from domestic or multi-lateral
    funding agencies. The project is estimated to have a ridership of 160,000
    passengers per day in the first year of operation.

National GDP Provisional Estimates for 2015-16 released

  • The Central Statistical Office
    (CSO) on 31 May 2016 released the provisional estimates of national GDP for
    2015-16. It pegged GDP growth at 7.9 percent in Quarter 4 of 2015-16 and 7.6
    percent in the whole of 2015-16.
  • India continued to remain a
    bright spot in world economy with robust macro-economic and fiscal parameters.

Highlights of the Accounts:
  • Fiscal Deficit: It stands at 3.9
    percent of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) in 2015-16 as estimated both in Budget
    Expenditure (BE) and Revenue Expenditure (RE) of 2015-16. This is a significant
    improvement over the Fiscal Deficit of 4.1 percent in 2014-15 and 4.7 percent
    in 2013-14.
  • Revenue Deficit: It also showed a
    significant improvement due to increase in Capital Expenditure of the Central
    Government. Revenue Deficit which stood at 3.2 percent of GDP in 2013-14 has
    improved to 2.9 percent in 2014-15 and 2.5 percent in 2015-16.
  • Plan Expenditure: It is 471081
    crore rupees in 2015-16 which is 8437 crore rupees higher over 2014-15 despite
    substantial increase in share of tax devolution to the States.
  • Gross tax collection: It showed
    17 percent growth as compared to Fiscal 2014-15 and also showed an improvement
    up to 10.74 percent of GDP (tax-GDP ratio) in 2015-16 as compared to 10.06
    percent in 2013-14.
  • Non Tax Receipts: These also
    showed improvement with 250744 crore in 2015-16 when compared to 197766 crore
    in 2014-15 and 198865 crore in 2013-14.

India and World Bank sign agreement to improve efficiency and
attractiveness of City Bus Services

  • The Government of India and the
    World Bank on 31 May 2016 signed a 9.2 million US dollar grant agreement under
    the World Bank-Global Environment Facility (GEF) Programme for the Efficient
    and Sustainable City Bus Service Project.
  • The project aims at improving the
    efficiency and attractiveness of bus services in select Indian cities.
  • The project will complement the
    Government of India’s Bus Funding Scheme launched to promote public transport
    by supporting cities to modernize their bus services.
  • Demonstration cities where the
    various initiatives for improving city bus services will be undertaken are Mira
    Bhayandar in Maharashtra, Chandigarh, Jaipur, and Bhopal.

Key highlights of the project
  • The project will demonstrate low
    cost high impact initiatives in efficient bus operations.
  • It will focus on modernizing city
    bus services through modern depots for improving the maintenance of buses.
  • It will introduce modern
    Intelligent Transport Systems and Management Information Systems for better
    planning and management of operations.

India and Morocco launch Chamber of Commerce and Industry

  • India and Morocco on 31 May 2016
    launched the India-Morocco Chamber of Commerce and Industry (IMCCI) in Rabat,
    Morocco.
  • The chamber was jointly launched
    by visiting Vice President Hamid Ansari and Moroccan Prime Minister Abdelilah
    Benkirane.
  • The IMCCI was launched to
    accelerate the pace of economic development between the two nations.
  • Morocco has recently emerged as a
    favoured destination for investments by Indian firms that Indian companies have
    cumulatively invested more than 320 million US dollars in Morocco, including in
    the flagship project, the Indo-Maroc Phosphore SA joint venture.

UP Government approves Detailed Project Report of Varanasi Metro Rail
  • The Uttar Pradesh (UP) Government
    on 31 May 2016 approved the Detailed Project Report (DPR) of Varanasi Metro
    rail project. The DPR will now be sent to the Union government for approval.
  • The responsibility of
    coordination for preparation of DPR for Metros in Kanpur, Varanasi, Meerut and
    Agra was assigned to Lucknow Metro Rail Corporation (LMRC) by state government.

Highlights of the Detailed Project Report
  • According to the DPR, the 29.23
    km Metro will have two corridors that include from BHEL to Banaras Hindu
    University (19.35 km) and Benia Bagh to Sarnath (9.885 km).
  • There will be 26 stations, 20
    underground and six elevated in the two corridors.
  • Out of the total length, 23.467
    km will be elevated, while 5.768 km will be underground.
  • The estimated cost of the project
    is 13133 crore rupees.

Direct Tax Dispute Resolution Scheme 2016 comes into force
  • The Direct Tax Dispute Resolution
    Scheme 2016 came into effect on 1 June 2016. The scheme was incorporated as
    Chapter X of the Finance Act, 2016.
  • The declarations under this
    Scheme may be made on or before the 31 December 2016 in respect of tax arrears
    & specified tax.

Procedure to file Declaration
  • Declarant to file declaration to
    the designated authority not below the rank of Commissioner in Form-1 to the
    designated authority and verified in the manner specified therein.
  • The designated authority shall
    within 60 days from the date of receipt of declaration, determine the amount
    payable by the declarant.
  • The declarant shall pay the sum
    within 30 days of passing such order and furnish a proof of the sum.
  • Any amount paid in pursuance of
    declaration shall not be refundable.

Scheme will not apply in following cases:-
  1. Cases where prosecution has been
    initiated before 29.02.2016.
  2. Search or survey cases where the
    declaration is in respect of tax arrears
  3. Cases relating to undisclosed
    foreign income and assets

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India –
Union Government approved retirement age of doctors of Central Health
Services to 65

  • Union Government approved the
    proposal of extending age of superannuation of all doctors of Central Health
    Services to 65 years with effect from 31 May 2016.
  • The proposal was made by the
    Ministry of Health and Family Welfare to strengthen the healthcare sector in
    the country.

Benefits of this increase
  • It will help in providing
    additional doctors in the health pool of the country.
  • This will enable the government
    to retain experienced doctors for a longer period and to provide better
    services in its public health facilities.
  • The decision is likely to benefit
    about 4000 doctors. As of now, the retirement age of doctors in government
    hospitals 62yeas in some others and is 60 years in others.

Bengaluru is India’s most preferred city for professionals to work:
LinkedIn

  • Bengaluru, India’s technology hub
    is witnessing a larger inflow of qualified professionals than it is losing
    talent to other cities in the country, according to social network firm
    Linkedin that compiled data based on changes users made on their profiles on
    its platform.
  • Nearly a third of its 2.3 million
    users in the IT capital of the country were working in the technology sector,
    while financial services, manufacturing and engineering, and hospitals and
    health care were also big employers of LinkedIn users in the city.
  • The biggest inflow of
    professionals into Bengaluru came from Chennai, Mumbai, Hyderabad and Pune,
    cities which have a presence in technology, financial services and engineering.
  • While the largest recruiters on
    the platform continued to be large IT services companies, e-commerce giant
    Flipkart made it to the list for top ten recruiters in the country.
  • With Bengaluru becoming a
    preferred destination for professionals, the city’s infrastructure has come
    under tremendous strain. Bengaluru, with a population of 10 million has over
    six million vehicles on roads, according to March 2016 data by the Karnataka
    transport department.

PM releases UN-backed National Disaster Management Plan
  • To make the country
    disaster-resilient and reduce loss of lives, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on
    Wednesday released a National Disaster Management Plan (NDMP).
  • “This is the first ever national
    plan prepared in the country,” said a statement from the Prime Minister’s
    Office.
  • The plan is based on four
    priority themes outlined by the United Nation’s ‘Sendai Framework,’ —
    understanding disaster risk, improving disaster risk governance, investing in
    disaster risk reduction (through structural and non-structural measures) and
    disaster preparedness, early warning and building back better in the aftermath
    of a disaster.
  • The Framework was adopted by
    member-states on March 18, 2015, at the third UN World Conference on Disaster Risk
    Reduction in Sendai, Japan.
  • The plan, designed to be scalable
    at all levels, will cover disaster prevention, mitigation, response and
    recovery. It provides for horizontal and vertical integration among all the
    agencies and departments of the government, the statement read.

Appointments –
Rahul Johri takes charge as first ever BCCI CEO

  • The Indian Cricket Board’s first
    ever CEO Rahul Johri, who was appointed on the recommendation of the Justice
    Lodha Committee, today took charge of the position in the BCCI headquarters
    here.
  • Welcoming Johri on board, BCCI
    extended its warm wishes to the new Chief Executive Officer. “BCCI extends a
    warm welcome to CEO Mr. Rahul Johri who takes charge from today,” BCCI wrote on
    its twitter handle.
  • Johri will be based at the Mumbai
    office, a statement from the Board had earlier stated.
  • Before joining BCCI, Johri last
    served as Discovery Networks Asia Pacific’s Executive Vice-President and General
    Manager for South Asia.

Sudeep Lakhtakia appointed CRPF Additional DG

  • An IPS officer, Sudeep Lakhtakia
    (1984), currently serving as Additional Director-General (Law & Order) in
    Telangana, has been appointed Additional Director-General in the Central
    Reserve Police Force (CRPF).
  • Orders from the competent
    authority said the appointment was from the date of his joining the post, upto
    July 31, 2019 (i.e., date of his retirement on superannuation) or till further
    orders, whichever event took place earlier.
  • Among other positions that Mr.
    Lakhtakia occupied in his long career were Superrintendent of Police, Warangal,
    Deputy Commissioners of Police (Traffic) and in Hyderabad-West Zone,
    Commissioner –Vijayawada and Deputy Inspector General-Security.
  • He was Inspector-General in the
    elite Special Protection Group for about eight years before he moved back to
    his home cadre as ADG-L & O.

Former Delhi Police Commissioner BS Bassi appointed UPSC member
  • The President Pranab Mukherjee on
    31 May 2016 appointed Bhim Sain Bassi, IPS (Retd) as a member of Union Public
    Service Commission (UPSC).
  • He will hold the constitutional
    post till February 2021, from the day when he enters the office.

Sports –
CEAT Cricket Awards 2016 conferred

  • CEAT Cricket Awards 2016 were
    conferred on the players in a function of 20th edition of CEAT awards at Mumbai
    on 30 May 2016. Former India captain Dilip Vengsarkar was conferred with the
    Lifetime Achievement Award.
  • England batsman Joe Root was
    named as the CEAT International Cricketer of the Year and also International
    batsman of the Year 2016 while India’s test captain Virat Kohli was named CEAT
    T20 Player of the Year.

List of the award winners:
  1. Lifetime Achievement Award –
    Dilip Vengsarkar
  2. International Cricketer of the
    Year – Joe Root
  3. International Batsman of the Year
    – Joe Root
  4. International Bowler of the Year
    – Ravichandran Ashwin
  5. Test Cricketer of the Year – Kane
    Williamson
  6. ODI Cricketer of the Year –
    Martin Guptill
  7. T20 Player of the Year – Virat
    Kohli
  8. Indian Cricketer of the Year –
    Rohit Sharma

Sonia Lather won silver in Women’s World Boxing Championships
  • Indian boxer Sonia Lather on 27
    May 2016 won the silver medal at the AIBA Women’s World Championships in
    Astana.
  • Though she reached the finals in
    the 57kg category, she was defeated by the gold medalist Mesiano Alessia of
    Italy 2-1.
  • India’s last gold at the
    bi-annual event came in 2010 when MC Mary Kom finished on top in the 48kg
    category to clinch her fifth world title.

World –
World’s longest tunnel opens in Switzerland

  • The world’s longest tunnel
    officially opened on Wednesday, with the trailblazing rail passage under the
    Swiss Alps aiming to ease transit through the heart of Europe.
  • With political unity on the
    continent shaken by a massive influx of migrants and the looming threat of
    Britain’s European Union (EU) departure, Swiss President Johan Schneider-Amman
    said the tunnel would “join the people and the economies” of Europe. He spoke
    before the 57-kilometre Gotthard Base Tunnel (GBT) made its ceremonial first
    run with European leaders on board.
  • The number of daily rail
    passengers is expected to increase from the current rate of 9,000 people to
    15,000 by 2020, according to the Swiss federal railway service.
  • The rough design for a rail
    tunnel under the Gotthard Pass was first sketched by Swiss engineer Carl Eduard
    Gruner in 1947. But bureaucratic delays, concerns over the cost and other
    hurdles pushed back the start of construction until 1999.
  • With its official opening, the
    Gotthard Base Tunnel has surpassed Japan’s 53.9-kilometre Seikan tunnel as the
    world’s longest train tunnel.

Days –
Global Day of Parents observed across the world

  • The Global Day of Parents was
    observed globally on 1 June 2016. The Global Day provides an opportunity to
    appreciate all parents in all parts of the world for their selfless commitment
    to children and their lifelong sacrifice towards nurturing this relationship.
  • The Day was proclaimed by the UN
    General Assembly in 2012 and honours parents throughout the world.
  • In its resolution, the General
    Assembly also noted that the family has the primary responsibility for the
    nurturing and protection of children. It calls for a harmonious development of
    their personality.

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This post was last modified on July 19, 2019 2:05 pm