Current Affairs Update – 21st June, 2016

Hello and welcome to exampundit . Here are the important Current Affairs of 21st June, 2016. These are important for the upcoming SBI PO Mains 2016.

• The State Bank of India (SBI) was
  on 16 June 2016 named in the Hall of Shame list of 158 banking institutions
  that have invested billions of dollars in companies making cluster bombs. The
  list was prepared by Dutch campaign group PAX Worldwide Investments in Cluster
  Munitions report.
• State Bank of India (SBI) is the
  only Indian entity on the list that includes global giants like JP Morgan,
  Barclays, Bank of America and Credit Suisse.

• The report looks at investments
  into companies involved in the production of cluster munitions.
• 158 financial institutions
  invested over 28 billion US dollars in the seven companies researched in the
  report between June 2012 and April 2016.
• These 7 companies are China
  Aerospace Science and Industry, China Aerospace Science and Technology, Hanwha
  (South Korea), Norinco (China), Orbital ATK (US), Poongsan (South Korea) and
  Textron (US).
• Textron produces the CBU-105
  Sensor Fuzed Weapon. Between June 2012 and April 2016, 49 financial
  institutions invested over 12 billion US dollars in Textron.
• The maximum number of 74 banks
  are from the US, followed by China (29) and South Korea (26).
• The majority of the financial
  institutions included in the Hall of Shame are from countries that have not yet
  joined the Convention on Cluster Munitions (CCM), the international treaty that
  bans this weapon.
• However, the report points
  towards the serious concern that there are still 20 financial institutions from
  seven countries which have joined the CCM.
• SBI has been included in the list
  because of its exposure to Orbital ATK, a US-based company specialising in the
  design, manufacture and launch of space and rocket systems for commercial,
  military and other government customers.

• Electronic insurance will become
  mandatory for annual premium equal to or above Rs 10,000 (single/annual
  premium) in life insurance policies. Insurance Regulatory and Development
  Authority of India (Irdai) in its Issuance of e-Insurance Policies Regulations,
  2016 said that these norms will come into force from October 1, 2016.
• Here, electronic insurance policy
  will mean a policy document which is an evidence of insurance contract issued
  by an insurer and digitally signed. Customers would have an e-Insurance Account
  which will be an electronic account opened by a person with an insurance
  repository wherein the portfolios of insurance policies of a policyholder are
  held in an electronic form.
• Irdai has asked every insurer
  soliciting insurance business through electronic mode to create an e-proposal
  form similar to the physical proposal form approved by the Authority. Such form
  should enable capture of information in electronic form that would enable easy
  processing and servicing. The e-proposal form will also have a provision to
  capture the electronic Insurance Account (eIA) number.

• Anand Desai led Expert committee
  set up to examine the Specific Relief Act, 1963 on 20 June 2016 submitted its
  report to Union Law & Justice Minister DV Sadananda Gowda.
• In its report the committee has
  recommended modifications in the Specific Relief Act, 1963, which will help in
  ensuring the ease of doing business.

• To change the approach, from
  damages being the rule and specific performance being the exception, to
  specific performance being the rule, and damages being the alternate remedy.
• To provide guidelines for
  reducing the discretion granted to Courts and tribunals while granting
  performance and injunctive reliefs so that public works projects is not be
  impeded or stalled.
• To introduce provisions for rights
  of third parties (other than for Government contracts).
• To consider addressing
  unconscionable contracts, unfair contracts, reciprocity in contracts etc., and
  implied terms.

• Inland Waterways Authority of
  India (IWAI) and India Ports Global Private Limited (IPGPL) on 1 June 2016
  signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on the Kaladan Multimodal Transit
  Transport Project.
• The MoU has been signed for
  implementation of the following three additional works, which are independent
  of the on-going works and are estimated to cost 476 crore rupees. They are
• Container handling facilities at
  Sittwe & Paletwa
• Operation & Maintenance of
  the completed works
• Wrecks removed in Sittwe Port
  basin area
• IWAI shall remain as the overall
  Project Development Consultant (PDC) to Project Development Consultant (PDC)
  for implementation of PORT & IWT component of Kaladan project.

• India and Thailand on 17 June
  2016 signed two agreements that are aimed at enhancing cooperation in culture
  as well as educational sectors.
• The set of agreements pertains to
  extension of the Cultural Exchange Programme (CEP) for 2016-19 and a Memorandum
  of Understanding (MoU) between Nagaland University and Thailand’s Chiang Mai
  University.
• The agreements were signed in New
  Delhi during the 3-day visit of Thailand Prime Minister General Prayut
  Chan-o-cha that concluded on 18 June 2016.
• During the visit, he held talks
  with the Prime Minister Narendra Modi on a wide range of issues that are of
  concern for both the countries and the region as a whole.

• Mori village in East Godavari
  district of Andhra Pradesh will be developed as a smart village of global
  standards. Towards this endeavor, the partners in the project on 19 June 2016
  announced that prototype will be ready by mid-December 2016.
• Under the project, the village
  will be developed as a self-contained sustainable business model.

• Mori is a small cashew-exporting
  village in Andhra Pradesh’s East Godavari district.
• The project involves using
  digital tools, real time information and uninterrupted internet connectivity.
• Under the project, the village
  will be equipped with fibre optic connectivity. Around 1900 households will be
  connected with 15 Mbps link.

• Public sector aerospace Hindustan
  Aeronautics Limited (HAL) on 17 June 2016 unveiled indigenous Basic Trainer
  Aircraft (BTA) HTT-40 in Bengaluru.
• The aircraft made its maiden
  flight at HAL Airport in Bengaluru and was flown by Group Captain C Subramaniam
  and Group Captain Venugopal for about 10 to 15 minutes.

• Hindustan Turbo Trainer-40
  (HTT-40) is two-seater aircraft designed and developed indigenously by the HAL.
• The aircraft weighs about 2800 kg
  and has Turbo Prop engine of 950 shp class.
• Almost 50 percent of the
  components on HTT-40 are manufactured by private players of the Indian
  aerospace manufacturers.
• The indigenous content on HTT-40
  is close to 80 percent.

• Punjab Chief Minister Parkash
  Singh Badal on 18 June 2016 launched the fund titled Mukh Mantri Punjab
  Hepatitis C Relief Fund to provide free treatment for patients affected by
  Hepatitis C.
• With this initiative, Punjab
  became the first Indian state to provide free treatment to confirmed cases of
  Hepatitis C.

• The fund will have initial corpus
  of 20 crore rupees.
• It will provide free treatment to
  all the residents of Punjab affected by Hepatitis C.
• Free treatment for Hepatitis C
  would be provided to the patients in the state government medical colleges at
  Patiala, Amritsar and Faridkot besides 22 district hospitals.
• Under this scheme, the patients
  of Hepatitis C will be registered at the 25 treating hospitals.

• Kannada Movie Thithi in the third
  week of June 2016 won two awards – Best Film and Best Script Writers – under
  the Asia New Talent Awards Category at the 19th Shanghai International Film
  Festival.
• Earlier, in August 2015, the film
  premiered at the 68th Locarno International Film Festival and won the Golden
  Leopard honour in the Filmmakers of the Present category and the Swatch First
  Feature award.
• The film also won numerous other
  awards at film festivals held in Mumbai, Palm Springs, Marrakech, etc. 

• 63rd National Film Awards: It won
  the National Film Award for Best Feature Film in Kannada.
• 2016 Karnataka State Film Awards:
  It bagged the awards, namely, First Best Film, Best Supporting Actress and Best
  Dialogue award.
• It was invited to the 45th
  edition of New Directors/New Films in New York, the USA.

• The International Day of Yoga was
  on 21 June 2016 observed across the world with the theme Connect the Youth.
• This year’s observance of the Day
  highlights the important role healthy living plays in the realization of the
  Sustainable Development Goals, adopted in 2015 by all 193 UN Member States.
• In India, the Union Government
  organised the event titled The National Event of Mass Yoga Demonstration at the
  Capitol Complex in Chandigarh where Prime Minister Narendra Modi himself
  performed yoga.

• Exide Life Insurance, on Tuesday
  announced cricketer Mahendra Singh Dhoni as its brand ambassador.
• Starting June 22, 2016, Dhoni
  will feature in the Exide Life Insurance marketing campaign “Lamba saath,
  bharose Ki baat.” (Long term relationships build trust).
• Private life insurer Exide Life
  Insurance commenced operations in 2001-02 and is head quartered in Bengaluru.
  The company is 100% owned by Exide Industries Limited. During the financial
  year 2015-16, the company achieved total Premium Income of over Rs 2,000 crore.

• Chinese supercomputer Sunway
  TaihuLight with 93 petaflop/second speed was on 20 June 2016 declared as the
  world’s fastest supercomputer. It was revealed in the TOP500 list of
  supercomputers released at the International Supercomputing Conference (ISC) in
  Frankfurt, Germany.
• The list further revealed that
  the USA is not home to the largest number of systems. With a surge in industrial
  and research installations registered over the last few years, China leads with
  167 systems and the USA is second with 165.
• Asian share of 218 systems, up
  from 173 in November 2015, includes 8 supercomputers owned by Indian-based
  organizations.

Regards

Team ExamPundit