Current Affairs Update – 22nd June, 2016

Hello and welcome to exampundit . Here are the important Current Affairs of 22nd June, 2016. These are important for the upcoming SBI PO Mains 2016 Exam.

Current Affairs at a Glance – 22nd June, 2016
  1. The Union Cabinet on 22 June 2016 approved the establishment of Fund of Funds
    for Startups (FFS)
    . The
    establishment of the fund is in tune with the Start up India Action Plan that
    was unveiled in January 2016 to boost start up ecosystem in the country.
  2. IT services provider Tech Mahindra on Wednesday said it has acquired The BIO Agency (BIO). It is a UK-based agency that
    offers digital services to global clients and engages with their customers.
    Tech Mahindra acquired the British firm for 45 million pounds (Rs 445 crore).
  3. Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO)
    on 22 June 2016 launched a record 20 satellites in a single mission from the
    Satish Dhawan Space Center in Sriharikota, Andhra Pradesh. With this launch of
    20 satellites, ISRO also managed to break its previous record of placing 10
    satellites into orbit in a single mission in 2008.
  4. The Maharashtra Cabinet on 21 June 2016 approved the minority status
    to Jew community
    . This decision will benefit the students from these
    communities to avail scholarships from the state government.
  5. The United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) on
    21 June 2016 released a report entitled World Investment Report 2016 – Investor Nationality:
    Policy Challenges
    . While the USA surpassed Hong Kong and China in
    terms of FDI inflows in 2015 with 380 billion US dollars,
    India continues to be at the 10th position with 44 billion US dollars
    .
  6. The World Bank Group on 20 June 2016 released the mid-year edition
    of India Development Update 2016: Financing Double-Digit
    Growth
    . The report finds that India’s economy expanded at a
    faster pace in FY 2016.
  7. Digital payments platform PayPal
    on Wednesday said it has appointed Anupam Pahuja, a company
    veteran heading technology for Asia Pacific, as the Managing Director and Country
    Manager for India
    .
  8. Six Indian World War I (WW-I) heroes on 20 June 2016 became part of
    Britain’s new digital archive
    . The archive was launched as part of
    UK government’s centenary celebrations of WW-I and aims to tell the inspiring
    stories of war heroes.
  9. The book titled A Life in
    Diplomacy
    was in news in the third week of June 2016. The book was
    written by former Indian diplomat Maharajakrishna
    Rasgotra
    .
Finance/Industry –
Union Cabinet approved establishment of Fund of Funds for Startups

  • The Union Cabinet on 22 June 2016
    approved the establishment of Fund of Funds for Startups (FFS). The
    establishment of the fund is in tune with the Start up India Action Plan that
    was unveiled in January 2016 to boost start up ecosystem in the country.
Features of Fund of Funds for Startups
  • Beneficiaries: It will be utilised for contribution to various
    Alternative Investment Funds (AIF), registered with Securities and Exchange
    Board of India (SEBI) which would extend funding support to Startups.
  • Resource allocation: It
    has a corpus of 10000 crore rupees which shall be built up over the 14th
    (2015-20) and 15th Finance Commission (2020-25) cycles subject to progress of
    the scheme and availability of funds.
  • An amount of 500 crore rupees has
    already been provided to the corpus of FFS in 2015-16 and 600 crore earmarked
    in the 2016-17.
  • Further provisions will be made
    as grant assistance through Gross Budgetary Support by Department of Industrial
    Policy and Promotion (DIPP).
  • The 10000 crore rupees corpus
    could potentially be the nucleus for catalyzing 60000 crore rupees of equity
    investment and twice as much debt investment.
  • This would provide a stable and
    predictable source of funding for Startup enterprises and thereby facilitate
    large scale job creation.
  • Employment: On full deployment, the Fund is expected to generate
    employment for 18 lakh persons on full deployment.
  • Execution: The expertise of the Small Industries Development Bank
    of India (SIDBI) would be utilized to manage the day to day operations of the
    FFS.
  • Monitoring: The DIPP will monitor and review performance of the
    fund in line with the Start up India Action Plan.
The NITI Aayog-appointed Tarun
Khanna Committee on Innovation and Entrepreneurship opined that India has the
potential to build about 2500 highly scalable businesses in the next 10 years.
Given the probability of
entrepreneurial success that means 10000 Start ups will need to be spawned to
get 2500 large scale businesses.
Tech Mahindra acquires UK digital firm The Bio Agency
  • IT services provider Tech
    Mahindra on Wednesday said it has acquired The BIO Agency (BIO). It is a
    UK-based agency that offers digital services to global clients and engages with
    their customers. Tech Mahindra acquired the British firm for 45 million pounds
    (Rs 445 crore).
  • The BIO Agency services brands
    across financial services, retail, property, travel, and technology sectors and
    the acquisition will help them make sizeable inroads into Fortune 100 / 500
    telecommunications and enterprise clients of Tech Mahindra, the company said in
    a statement.
  • Tech Mahindra has embraced the
    future with its focus on digital and sees this as an important strategic move.
    The acquisition will further strengthen and enable the company to engage with
    its clients at the start of the journey and more importantly, help design the
    customer experience for their businesses.
India –
ISRO launches record 20 satellites from Sriharikota
  • Indian Space Research
    Organisation (ISRO) on 22 June 2016 launched a record 20 satellites in a single
    mission from the Satish Dhawan Space Center in Sriharikota, Andhra Pradesh.
  • With this launch of 20
    satellites, ISRO also managed to break its previous record of placing 10
    satellites into orbit in a single mission in 2008.
  • The 20 satellites including
    India’s latest earth observation satellite Cartosat-2 was launched on-board
    Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle PSLV C-34. The other 19 satellites were from the
    US, Germany, Canada and Indonesia as well as two satellites from Sathyabama
    University, Chennai, and the College of Engineering, Pune.
  • The Cartosat-2 series satellite
    is the primary satellite carried by PSLV-C34. This satellite is similar to the
    earlier Cartosat-2, 2A and 2B. After its injection into a 505 km polar Sun
    Synchronous Orbit by PSLV-C34,
Other satellites included
  • LAPAN A3 of Indonesia: The
    micro-satellite will be used for earth surveillance and magnetic field
    monitoring.
  • BIROS from Germany: This is meant
    for remote sensing of high temperature events.
  • SKYSAT GEN 2-1 from US: It will
    be used for earth imaging. The micro-satellite was developed by Google Company
    Terra Bella’s SkySat Gen2-1.
  • Dove Satellites from US: it
    comprises of a total of 12 Flock-2P Earth imaging satellites.
  • Maritime Monitoring and Messaging
    Microsatellite (M3MSAT) from Canada: This micro-satellite of Canada will be
    used for collection and study of automatic identification system signals from
    low earth orbit.
Aadhaar to be linked with caste, domicile certificates
  • Union Government in June 2016
    asked all state governments to link Aadhaar with caste and domicile
    certificates of school students.
  • Under first-of-its-kind
    initiative, the states have been asked to ensure that such certificates are
    issued within 60 days time to the students when they are studying either in
    Class V or VIII.
  • To make sure that the
    scholarships will be granted on time to students belonging to Scheduled Caste
    and Scheduled Tribes and without causing any harassment to SC/STs students.
    There have been complaints of delay in grant of scholarships and harassment.
  • To facilitate access of bona fide
    candidates belonging to Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes to the reserved
    posts and services under the State or Central governments.
  • To secure admission in
    educational institutions and get other facilities.
Maharashtra Cabinet approves Minority Status to Jew community
  • The Maharashtra Cabinet on 21
    June 2016 approved the minority status to Jew community. This decision will
    benefit the students from these communities to avail scholarships from the
    state government.
  • After getting the minority
    status, the Jews in the state will be entitled to use benefits of government
    schemes meant for minorities and can also apply in educational institutions
    under the minority status.
  • The people of this community will
    now be able to easily get their marriage registrations done in Maharashtra.
  • The Jewish people living in the
    state would now also be able to set up their own educational institutions and
    practice and promote their culture.
Andhra Postal circle releases stamps on Yoga booklet
  • To commemorate the 2nd
    International Day of Yoga, Andhra Pradesh Postal circle on 21 June 2016
    released “Information booklet, Stamps on Yoga” and “12 stamps on
    Suryanamaskarams”.
  • The booklet contains
    illustrations and description of 24 yoga asana (postures). It also provides a
    brief description on the various Yoga postures depicted in the original Stamps.
  • The booklet contains four
    Commemorative stamps released in 1991 on various yoga postures– Bhujangasana,
    Dhanurasana, Ushtrasana and Utthita Trikonasana.

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Reports –
UNCTAD released World Investment Report 2016

  • The United Nations Conference on
    Trade and Development (UNCTAD) on 21 June 2016 released a report entitled World
    Investment Report 2016 – Investor Nationality: Policy Challenges.
  • The report examines international
    production by multinational enterprises (including sales, exports, employment
    and value added), as well as their ownership structures and control of
    affiliates.
  • In a novel analysis, the report
    focuses on how policymakers can distinguish between “domestic” and
    “foreign” companies in a globalized economy and provides with a new
    framework for handling ownership issues in 21st century investment
    policymaking.
  • While the USA surpassed Hong Kong
    and China in terms of FDI inflows in 2015 with 380 billion US dollars, India
    continues to be at the 10th position with 44 billion US dollars.
Highlights of World Investment Report 2016
  • FDI inflows: Top 10 countries in
    terms of FDI inflows in decreasing order – The USA, China, Hong Kong, Ireland,
    Netherlands, Switzerland, Singapore, Brazil, Canada and India.
  • Global investment trends: The
    flows jumped by 38 per cent to 1.76 trillion US dollars, their highest level
    since the global economic and financial crisis of 2008–2009.
Report with respect to India
  • Globally, India was at the top
    tenth position in terms of FDI inflows in 2015. Compared to 35 billion US
    dollars in 2014, it received 44 billion US dollars of investments in 2015.
  • India’s and Bangladesh’s FDI
    performance pushed inflows to South Asia to 50 billion US dollars, an increase
    of 22 per cent from 2014.
  • India became the fourth largest
    recipient of investment in developing Asia.
World Bank releases India Development Update 2016
  • The World Bank Group on 20 June
    2016 released the mid-year edition of India Development Update 2016: Financing
    Double-Digit Growth. The report finds that India’s economy expanded at a faster
    pace in FY 2016.
  • It says that the economy was
    lifted to a higher growth path by demand from urban households and public
    investments, despite the fact that other key growth engines had stalled.
Highlights of the Update
  • It reviews the current challenges
    in India’s financial sector and analyzes some of the impacts of the
    recommendations of the 14th Finance Commission on Indian states.
  • Agriculture, rural household
    consumption, private investments, and exports have not performed to potential.
  • The oil bonanza most directly
    benefited the government, which for the first time in five years exceeded its
    revenue collection targets and used the resources to contain the fiscal
    deficit.
  • Capital spending by the central
    government was ramped up.
  • Urban households were the main
    drivers of growth in FY 2016.
  • The manufacturing and services
    sectors, which expanded 7.4 and 8.9 percent, respectively, also created urban
    jobs.
  • Inflation abated primarily
    because of lower food prices.
  • Lower inflation raised real
    incomes and allowed RBI to cut interest rates, which favored the financially-connected
    urban households.
  • To remain on this growth path and
    sustain growth at 7.6 percent into FY17, the challenge for the Indian economy
    is to activate the stalled engines that are agricultural growth, rural demand
    and trade.
  • The dissipation of the large
    boost from historically low oil prices in the past year will make this a
    challenging task, but prospects of a normal monsoon will help, the Update
    suggests.
Appointments –
PayPal India appoints Anupam Pahuja as Managing Director
  • Digital payments platform PayPal
    on Wednesday said it has appointed Anupam Pahuja, a company veteran heading
    technology for Asia Pacific, as the Managing Director and Country Manager for
    India.
  • Pahuja will be responsible for
    all aspects of PayPal’s India business and further strengthening the company’s
    operations in the country.
  • Prior to PayPal, Anupam was the
    Managing Director of NASDAQ-listed SumTotal Systems, the world’s largest
    eLearning company.
Awards & Honors –
Six Indian WW1 warriors gets place in Digital Archive of United Kingdom
  • Six Indian World War I (WW-I)
    heroes on 20 June 2016 became part of Britain’s new digital archive. The
    archive was launched as part of UK government’s centenary celebrations of WW-I
    and aims to tell the inspiring stories of war heroes.
  • The new Digital Archive was
    launched by Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) to chronicle individual
    biographies of the war heroes. The new digital archive can be accessed through
    the UK government’s official gov.uk portal.
The Indians to be archived digitally for their important role during
the War are:
  1. Risaldar Badlu Singh from Punjab
  2. Sepoy Chatta Singh from Uttar
    Pradesh
  3. Naik Darwan Singh Negi from Uttar
    Pradesh (modern day Uttarakhand)
  4. Lance Naik Lala from Himachal
    Pradesh
  5. Rifleman Gabar Sing Negi from
    modern day Uttarakhand
  6. Lance-Daffadar Gobind Singh from
    Rajasthan
Books & Authors –
A Life in Diplomacy authored by MK Rasgotra
  • The book titled A Life in
    Diplomacy was in news in the third week of June 2016. The book was written by
    former Indian diplomat Maharajakrishna Rasgotra.
  • It is an insider’s account of the
    personalities and policies that shaped Indian diplomacy.
  • The book provides a ringside view
    of the beginnings of ethnic violence in Sri Lanka, the last years of the Cold
    War, the negotiations on the formation of SAARC, Indira Gandhi’s assassination
    and the Bhopal gas disaster.
Obituaries –
Noted Telangana poet and lyricist Guda Anjaiah dies
  • Noted Telangana poet and lyricist
    Guda Anjaiah died on 21 June 2016 at his house at Ragannagudem, Telangana
    following a brief illness. He was 61. He is survived by three daughters.
  • His songs both regaled and
    incensed supporters of statehood movement.
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This post was last modified on July 19, 2019 2:05 pm