Current Affairs Update – 23rd November, 2016

• Doing the right thing at the
  right time and reaping the fruits, may well become a reality for Bharti Airtel
  – which announced the launch of the first payments bank (Airtel Payments Bank
  Ltd) as a pilot in Rajasthan on Wednesday.
• To begin with, the pilot project
  will run in 10,000 Airtel retail outlets in Rajasthan where customers will be
  offered an interest rate of 7.25 per cent on deposits in savings account.
• Airtel Payments Bank is the first
  one to launch the services out of the 11 companies that got licenses from the
  Reserve Bank last year. According to analysts, such a move can be a win-win for
  the company after the Centre’s demonetisation move.
• Payments banks can accept a
  restricted deposit that is currently limited to ₹1
  lakh per customer account, and cannot issue loans and credit cards, as per RBI.
  Both current account and savings accounts can be operated by such banks.
• Arora said Airtel already offers
  services through the neighbourhood retailer who the customer is familiar with
  and through this launch the company was leveraging this network.

• Drug major Sun Pharmaceutical
  Industries Ltd on Wednesday said it has entered into an agreement to acquire
  Russian pharma company JSC Biosintez for $24 million.
• The Indian company will also
  assume Russian company’s debt of $36 million, Sun Pharma said in a statement.
• The total deal size works out to
  $60 million ($26 million for 85.1 per cent equity stake and $36 million Russian
  company’s debt).
• According to Sun Pharma, the
  acquisition will be done by its wholly owned subsidiary.
• Biosintez is a Russian pharmaceutical
  company focusing on the hospital segment with annual revenues of approximately
  $52 million for 2015.

• The Reserve Bank of India (RBI)
  on 21 November 2016 relaxed the prudential norms on income recognition, asset
  classification and provisions pertaining to advances.
• The decision came following the
  withdrawal of the legal tender of 500 and 1000 rupees notes.

• Taking into consideration the
  problems being faced by small borrowers in repaying their loan dues, RBI
  decided to provide an additional 60 days time, provided that the value of the
  loan or crop loan is less than 1 crore rupees.
• Term loans, housing loans and
  agriculture loans, whether business or personal, with sanctioned amount of up
  to 1 crore rupees on the books of any bank or any NBFC, will be eligible for
  relaxation.
• Loans sanctioned by banks to NBFC
  (MFI), NBFCs, Housing Finance Companies and PACs and by State Cooperative Banks
  to DCCBs are also eligible for the same.
• It also applies to dues payable
  between 1 November 2016 and 31 December 2016.
• Dues payable before 1 November
  and after 31 December 2016 will be covered by the extant instruction for the
  respective regulated entity with regard to recognition of NPAs.
• The additional time given shall
  only apply to defer the classification of an existing standard asset as
  substandard and not for restructuring of loans.

• The Union Finance Ministry on 18
  November 2016 constituted a committee with an aim of assessing the status of
  implementation of demonetisation drive in the country.
• The committee comprises of
  Additional Secretaries, Joint Secretaries and Directors with each team
  consisting of up to two or three officers for each State and Union Territory
  (UT).
• The committee was formed
  following the decision of the Union Government to ban 500 and 1000 rupees currency
  notes on 8 November 2016.

• The teams will be constituted by
  the Department of Personnel Training and concerned officers.
• The teams shall visit the States
  or UTs allocated to them for at least 2 days.
• Each officer shall visit
  different area of State or UT separately with the main focus on rural areas.
• Visit the States and union
  territories and report back to the Union Government and submit its report by 25
  November 2016.
• Check currency availability
  across the States in the network of bank branches, ATMs and post offices.
• Verify facilities at bank
  branches and post offices for deposit, withdrawal and exchange of currency.

• India on 21 November 2016 became
  an Associate Member State of European Organization for Nuclear Research (CERN)
  by signing an agreement with the organisation.
• The agreement was signed by
  Sekhar Basu, Chairman of Atomic Energy Commission and CERN Director General Fabiola
  Gianotti in Mumbai.
• In 2015, the Union Cabinet gave
  its approval for the Membership of CERN following which the CERN Council has
  accepted India as an Associate member.

• The participation of Indian
  scientists in CERN dates back to early 1960s and it became stronger with the
  support of Department of Atomic Energy (DAE) and Department of Science and
  Technology (DST).
• In 1991, DAE signed a formal
  agreement with CERN which exists till today.
• In 2003, India was awarded the
  Observer status of CERN and was subsequently invited to join CERN as an
  Associate Member
• India made significant
  contributions to the construction of Large Hadron Collider (LHC), in the areas
  of design, development and supply of hardware accelerator systems and its
  commissioning.
• India is also one of the leading
  partners in the ALICE experiment which is about to unearth the physics of
  quark-gluon plasma (QGP).

• The 13th World Robot Olympiad
  will be held in India for the first time ever. It will be organised jointly by
  NCSM under the aegis of Ministry of Culture and India STEM Foundation (ISF)
  from 25 November to 27 November 2016 at the India Expo Mart, Greater Noida.
• More than 2000 students from 54
  countries will participate in the event to find innovative ways, using robotic
  technology, to reduce, manage and recycle waste.
• The theme for the 13th World
  Robot Olympiad is Rap the Scrap. The theme is in line with ‘Swachh Bharat
  Mission’ of the Indian government. The theme suggests students to Rap (talk)
  about waste – an important social issue. The students are expected to come up
  with innovative ideas using robotics technology to ‘Rap the Scrap’ i.e. to
  reduce, manage and recycle waste.

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• The Federation of Indian Chambers
  of Commerce and Industry (FICCI) on 21 November 2016 announced Pankaj R. Patel
  as its newly elected President for 2017.
• Patel will take over from
  Harshavardhan Neotia during the FICCI AGM to be held on 16 December and 17
  December 2016 in New Delhi. Neotia is the Chairman of Ambuja Neotia Group.

• US President Barack Obama on 22
  November 2016 presented the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the nation’s highest
  civilian honour, to 21 artists, sports figures, scientists and philanthropists.
• Among the honourees were Robert
  Redford, Bill and Melinda Gates, Tom Hanks and Diana Ross.
• Kareem Abdul-Jabbar – He is an
  American retired professional basketball player who played 20 seasons in the
  National Basketball Association for the Milwaukee Bucks and Los Angeles Lakers.
• Ellen DeGeneres – She is an
  award-winning comedian who has been hosting her popular daytime talk show, The
  Ellen DeGeneres Show, since 2003.
• Robert De Niro – He is an
  American actor and producer who has both Italian and American citizenship.
• Richard Garwin – He is an
  American physicist, widely known to be the author of the first hydrogen bomb
  design.
• Tom Hanks – He is an American
  actor, comedian and filmmaker.
• Michael Jordan – He is an
  American retired professional basketball player.

• Dr Viveki Rai, the renowned Hindi
  and Bhojpuri litterateur, died on 22 November 2016 in a hospital in a hospital
  in Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh. He was 92.
• His works mainly depict rural
  life of India. His first story was published in 1945 in the then popular newspaper
  Aaj. He also wrote several articles and columns in magazines and news papers
  too.

• Renowned physicist MGK Menon
  passed away on 22 November 2016. He was 88.
• Menon had a major role in the
  development of science and technology in India over 50 years. One of his most
  important contributions was nurturing the Tata Institute of Fundamental
  Research in Mumbai.

• M. Balamuralikrishna, an Indian
  Carnatic vocalist, died on 22 November 2016 in Chennai. He was 86.
  Balamuralikrishna, a recipient of Padma Vibhusan, was suffering from
  age-related geriatric problems.
• Hailing from the Sankaraguptham
  village in East Godavari district of Andhra Pradesh, Balamuralikrishna began
  his musical journey at the age of 8. Since then, he has performed in over 25
  thousand concerts.