Current Affairs Update – 21st August, 2015

Hello and welcome to ExamPundit. Here are the Important Current Affairs of 21st August, 2015. These are Important for the upcoming IBPS RRB 2015 Exam.

Finance
R Gandhi panel
recommended conversion of UCBs into Regular Banks
  • The Reserve Bank of India’s (RBI’s) High Powered Committee
    on Urban Cooperative Banks (UCBs) headed by RBI Deputy Governor R Gandhi in its
    report has recommended conversion of UCBs with business size of 20000 crore
    rupees or more into regular banks. This will allow them to grow and proliferate
    further for financial inclusion.
  • RBI on 20 August 2015 placed the panel’s report on its
    website and invited suggestions and comments from public on this report by 18
    September 2015.

The important
recommendations made by the HPC are briefly as under:
  • Business Size and Conversion of Multi-State UCBs into joint
    stock bank: A business size of 20000 crore rupees or more may be the threshold
    limit beyond which a UCB may be expected to convert itself into a commercial
    bank. The conversion need not be de jure compulsory. However, the types of
    businesses to be undertaken by those choosing not to convert may remain within
    the limits of plain vanilla products and services and hence, growth will be at
    a much slower pace. Their expansion in terms of branches, area of operations
    and business lines may thus be carefully calibrated.
  • Conversion of UCBs into Small Finance Banks (SFBs): Smaller
    UCBs with business size of less than 20000 crore rupees willing to convert to
    SFBs can apply to the Reserve Bank for conversion provided they fulfil all the
    eligibility criteria and selection processes prescribed by the Reserve Bank and
    further provided that the licensing window for SFBs is open.
  • Issue of fresh licences: Licenses may be issued to
    financially sound and well-managed co-operative credit societies having a
    minimum track record of 5 years which satisfy the regulatory prescriptions set
    by the Reserve Bank as licensing conditions. For providing banking access in
    unbanked areas, the Reserve Bank may put in place an appropriate set of
    incentives for existing banks to open branches there.
  • Board of Management (BoM) in addition to Board of Directors
    (BoDs): Putting in place a BoM as suggested by the Malegam Committee has to be
    one of the mandatory licensing conditions for licensing of new UCBs and
    expansion of existing ones.
  • Entry Point Norms: The new Entry Point Norms (EPNs) may be
    as under:

  • To operate as a Multi-State Urban
    Co-operative Bank- 100 crore rupees
  • To operate beyond two districts and
    as a State level UCB – 50 crore rupees
  • To operate as District level UCB
    (upto 2 districts) – 25 crore rupees
  • In case of conversion of
    co-operative credit societies in unbanked areas and in the north-east, suitable
    relaxation may be made by the Reserve Bank.

Depositors as voting members: The depositors ought to have a
say on the Boards of UCBs. For this, a majority of the board seats may be
reserved for depositors by making suitable provisions in the bye-laws.

Bharti Airtel ties up
with Uber for wallet services

  • Telecom operator Bharti Airtel has tied up with taxi-hailing
    app Uber for its wallet services. Now, Uber riders can pay for their trips with
    Airtel’s mobile wallet service — Airtel Money.
  • Uber already has a similar tie-up with Paytm Wallet.
    Additionally, in Mumbai, riders can get free access to high-speed Internet
    inside Uber, powered by Airtel 4G. This service will soon be rolled out for
    Uber riders pan-India.
  • This integration will provide riders with another
    hassle-free payment option and will make Uber the first technology platform to
    officially launch Airtel Money. For a limited time, new Uber riders who top up
    their Airtel Money wallet will earn up to Rs. 500 for free. Additionally,
    starting with Mumbai, every Uber vehicle in India will soon be equipped with
    free WiFi, powered by Airtel 4G. Whether riding to work or a night out in town,
    Uber will offer commuters high-speed internet at no data charges, powered by
    Airtel 4G.
  • Airtel will also become Uber’s official telecom partner
    across India, and support the company’s rapid growth in India by offering
    mobile, data and device plans to Uber driver-partners. As part of this
    alliance, Uber will also offer exclusive promotions, discounts and experiences to
    Airtel customers — including Rs. 500 off on their first ride upon using Airtel
    Money.

India
Minority Ministry
Launches Online Application Management System (OAMS) for “Nai Roshni”
Dr. Najma Heptulla,the Union Minister for Minority Affairs
Launched Online Application Management System (OAMS) for Nai Roshni. Speaking
on the occasion she said the system brings the scheme in to public domain and
will facilitate transparency and quick delivery.
The Ministry has developed an Online Application Management
System (OAMS) for Nai Roshni scheme. The procedures involved and benefits of
the system include:
  • Submission of online application and generation of an
    application ID with date.
  • Online screening of applications.
  • Online receipt of documents.
  • No loss of documents due to postal or human negligence.
  • Curtailment of procedural delays.
  • Minimized paper work.
  • Time saving.
  • The applicant can check the status of their applications
    with their ID.
  • Online project approval, sanctions and release of funds.
  • Online monitoring of projects.
  • Reports on trained women, location of projects etc.
    available in public domain.

The Ministry of Minority Affairs implements Nai Roshni a
scheme for Leadership Development of Minority Women since 2012-13, to empower
and instill confidence in women by providing knowledge, tools and techniques
for interacting with Government systems, banks and intermediaries at all
levels.
Narendra Modi-Barack
Obama hotline becomes operational

  • The hotlines or secure lines of communication between Prime
    Minister Narendra Modi and US President Barack Obama and their national
    security advisers have recently become operational, though it has not been put
    to use during its short lifespan so far.
  • With this India becomes only the fourth country- after
    Russia, Great Britain and China – with which the US has a hotline.
  • For India this is the first hotline at the level of head of
    state.
  • In 2004, India and Pakistan agreed to establish hotlines at
    the level of foreign secretaries, and in 2010 New Delhi and Beijing announced
    to establish a hotline at the foreign minister level.
  • According to publicly available information the hotline
    between India and Pakistan was established with the help of US military.
  • India-China hotline is yet to become operational.

Himachal Pradesh
Government launched RISHTA project
  • Himachal Pradesh Government on 20 August 2015 launched the
    Rajiv Gandhi Illuminating Scheme for Hill Town Advancement (RISHTA) project, an
    efficient smart LED based street lighting project. With this, Himachal Pradesh
    became the first state in North India to do so.
  • The scheme is also known as Centralized Control and
    Monitoring System (CCMS) Smart Street Lighting Scheme for Urban Local bodies
    which implements LED based street lighting project. This project is being
    implemented by collaboration of state Urban Development Department and EESL.
  • EESL (Energy Efficient Services Limited) is a joint venture
    company formed by four power sectors i.e. National Thermal Power Corporation
    (NTPC), Power Grid Corporation of India (PGCIL), Power Finance Corporation Ltd.
    (PFC) and Rural Electrification Corporation (REC).

Union Government
launched web portal Vidya Lakshmi for Students Seeking Educational Loans
  • The Union Government on 15 August 2015 launched a web portal
    named Vidya Lakshmi (www.vidyalakshmi.co.in) for the benefit of  students seeking Educational Loans.
  • It is the first portal of its kind that provides single
    window for students to access information and make application for educational
    loans provided by banks as well as for government scholarships.
  • The Portal was developed by NSDL e-Governance Infrastructure
    Limited (NSDL e-Gov) under the guidance of Department of Financial Services
    under Union Ministry of Finance, Department of Higher Education under Union
    Ministry of Human Resource Development and Indian Banks’ Association (IBA).

Highlights of the
Portal
  • It provides
    information about educational loan schemes of banks
  • Common educational
    loan application form for students
  • It has facility to
    apply to multiple banks for educational loans
  • It allows banks to
    download students’ loan applications and upload loan processing status
  • It offers students to
    email grievances/queries relating to educational loans to banks
  • It has dashboard
    facility for students to view status of their loan application

Appointments
Ranil Wickremesinghe
sworn in as Prime Minister of Sri Lanka

  • Ranil Wickremesinghe was sworn in as the Prime Minister of
    Sri Lanka. He was administered the oath of office by President Maithripala
    Sirisena at the Presidential Secretariat in Colombo.
  • Wickremesinghe, a lawmaker since 1977, had served the
    country as its Prime Minister on three occasions. He held the post from
    1993-94, 2002-2004 and since January 2015.
  • Apart from this, immediately after the swearing-in, the
    General Secretaries of the two main parties in the country, the Sri Lanka
    Freedom Party (SLFP) and the United National Party (UNP) signed a Memorandum of
    Understanding to work together in the parliament and form a National
    Government.

World
Greek PM Alexis
Tsipras resigned and called for snap polls

  • Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras in a televised address
    to the nation announced his resignation on 20 August 2015. He submitted his
    resignation to President Prokopis Pavlopoulos and asked for the earliest
    possible election date.
  • 41-year-old Tsipras, who was elected as the Prime Minister
    in January 2015, said that he felt a deep moral obligation to lay his action
    before the judgement of the Greek people.
  • Tsipras resigned with an aim to defend the massive bailout
    of 86 billion-euro (96 billion dollars), which Greece received from the
    creditors. This third bailout to the country since 2010, led to rebellion
    within his left-wing Syriza party.

Books
& Authors –
Book titled Mrs
Funnybones authored by Twinkle Khanna released
  • The book titled Mrs Funnybones: She’s Just Like You and a
    Lot Like Me authored by former Bollywood actress Twinkle Khanna was released on
    18 August 2015. Mrs. Funnybones is about how a modern woman looks at India and
    how India looks back at her.
  • Full of wit and delicious observations, Mrs Funnybones
    captures the life of the modern Indian woman who organizes dinner each evening,
    even as she goes to work all day, who runs her own life but has to listen to
    her Mummyji, who worries about her weight and the state of the country.
  • The book is the bigger version of Twinkle Khanna’s super-hit
    column Mrs Funnybones.  She is a popular
    columnist and her contributions can be seen in The Times of India and DNA After
    Hrs.

Making India Awesome
authored by Chetan Bhagat released
  • The book titled Making India Awesome authored by Chetan
    Bhagat was released by Rupa Publications on 19 August 2015.
  • This is the second non-fiction book written by the country’s
    biggest-selling writer Chetan Bhagat. His first non-fiction book was What Young
    India Wants which was well received by the readers.
  • In this book of essays the author analyses and provides
    inspired solutions to the country’s most intractable problems—poverty,
    unemployment, corruption, violence against women, communal violence, religious
    fundamentalism, illiteracy and more.
  • Using simple language and concepts, this book presents the
    most complex of problems facing the nation today and gives practical solutions
    to solve them.

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This post was last modified on July 20, 2019 10:17 am