Current Affairs Update – 24 November, 2016

Hello and welcome to exampundit . Here are the Important Current Affairs of 24th November, 2016. These are important for the upcoming IBPS Clerk, IPPB Mains and NICL AO Mains Exam 2016.

Current Affairs at a Glance – 24 November, 2016
  1. India’s largest public sector bank State Bank of India has launched its
    Unified Payments Interface enabled app
    called “SBI Pay”.
    The app is available only on Android platform as of now and allows users to pay
    or collect money from any phone number or bank account linked to any UPI app,
    SBI said in a media statement.
  2. IDBI Bank, as part of its continuous
    initiatives to provide service and convenience to the customers, has launched IDBI Bank CASH
    @POS at the Mumbai Airport on November 20, 2016
    . Under this first
    of its kind facility
    , air travelers would be able to swipe their
    Visa/ Rupay Debit Cards linked to their Savings Bank Account and the bank
    officials would hand over the cash to them by completing the CASH @POS
    transaction.
  3. YES Bank, the fifth largest
    private sector bank, on Thursday announced a partnership with Gujarat State
    Road Transport Corporation (GSRTC) to digitise payment of bus tickets
    for its customers
    .
  4. Uttar Pradesh Electronics Corporation
    (UPEC),
    an undertaking of UP government’s IT & Electronics
    department, and Software Technology Parks of India (STPI) signed a Memorandum of
    Understanding (MoU) to develop an IT Park in Eastern
    UP’s Gorakhpur
    . The MoU was signed in presence of UP’s IT and
    Electronics Minister Manoj Kumar Pandey in Lucknow on Thursday.
  5. Branded rice, staples and organic
    foods maker LT
    Foods has inked a 51:49 joint venture with leading Japanese snacking firm
    Kameda Seika
    , to sell rice-based snacks in India.
  6. The Insolvency and Bankruptcy Board (IBBI)
    of India on 23 November 2016 notified three sets of regulations- (Insolvency
    Professional) Regulations, 2016
    ; Regulations inter alia provide for
    registration, Regulation and oversight of insolvency professionals. These
    regulations were notified under the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code, 2016 and
    will come into effect from 29 November 2016.
  7. The Union Ministry of External
    Affairs, Government of India, on 21 November 2016 announced that Antonio Costa,
    the Prime Minister of Portugal, accepted
    the proposal be the Chief Guest at the 14th Pravasi Bharatiya Divas
    .
  8. UN International
    Telecommunication Union (ITU) released the 2016 edition of the Measuring the
    Information Society Report. The report was launched on 22 November 2016 during
    the World Telecommunication/ICT Indicators Symposium (WTIS). India was
    placed at 138th rank with IDI score of 2.69. In 2015
    , it stood at
    135th position with IDI score of 2.50.
  9. Indian journalist Malini
    Subramaniam
    on 23 November 2016 won the International Press Freedom Awards
    given by Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ)
    at the Waldorf-Astoria in
    New York City.
  10. Donald Trump, the President-elect of the United States of America
    (USA), on 23 November 2016 named South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley as the US Ambassador to the United Nations
    .
    With this, Haley becomes the first non-white female cabinet-level
    official to be appointed within the Trump administration
    .
  11. Turkey will chair the Energy Club of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation
    (SCO) in 2017
    . With this, it became the first non full member country to be
    the chairman of a club in the organisation.

Finance/Economy/Banking –
SBI Enters Unified Payments Interface Arena With SBI Pay

  • India’s largest public sector
    bank State Bank of India has launched its Unified Payments Interface enabled
    app called “SBI Pay”.
  • The app is available only on
    Android platform as of now and allows users to pay or collect money from any
    phone number or bank account linked to any UPI app, SBI said in a media
    statement.
  • The bank will add the facility to
    make merchant payments and enhance transaction limits on the app in “due
    course.”
  • The bank said that the iOS app
    for the same would be rolled out “as and when” National Payments Corporation of
    India issues specifications for the platform. However, private players like
    ICICI Bank Ltd. have managed to integrate UPI into their existing iOS apps.
  • With this launch, SBI becomes the
    18th bank in the country to go live with its UPI app, according to the NPCI
    website. The total number of banks accepting UPI payments now stands at 30.
  • UPI was launched in August this
    year to allow participating banks, merchants and consumers to transact with
    minimal effort and in real time. The UPI infrastructure allows customers to pay
    or collect money from people or merchants by just putting in their virtual
    payment address, which is linked to a mobile number and a bank account.
  • The UPI infrastructure is built
    over the existing Immediate Payments Service or IMPS, which allows real-time
    transfer of money.

IDBI Bank launches CASH@POS service at Mumbai Airport
  • IDBI Bank, as part of its
    continuous initiatives to provide service and convenience to the customers, has
    launched IDBI Bank CASH @POS at the Mumbai Airport on November 20, 2016.
  • Under this first of its kind
    facility, air travelers would be able to swipe their Visa/ Rupay Debit Cards
    linked to their Savings Bank Account and the bank officials would hand over the
    cash to them by completing the CASH @POS transaction.
  • Presently this facility can only
    be used to withdraw an amount of Rs 2,000 per Debit Card per day as per the
    mandate of RBI for cash withdrawal at POS.
  • Travelers who are customers of
    IDBI Bank and select other banks, that are enabled for CASH @POS would be
    benefitting by this service. Through this service IDBI Bank has opened another
    channel to ease the load of cash dispensation at various banking outlets.
YES Bank, Gujarat Roadways join hands to digitise bus travel payments

  • YES Bank, the fifth largest
    private sector bank, on Thursday announced a partnership with Gujarat State
    Road Transport Corporation (GSRTC) to digitise payment of bus tickets for its
    customers.
  • For this the bank will install
    over 125 points of sale (PoS) terminals to facilitate booking through credit
    and debit cards at all GSRTC bus depots. The bank is already live with 50 terminals
    and will set up the remaining in the next couple of weeks as part of the first
    phase of implementation.
  • The initiative will cover all
    municipal corporation locations and multiple cities including Ahmedabad,
    Rajkot, Vadodara and towns including Bhuj, Dahod, Palanpur and Valsad.
  • The installation of these
    terminals will support the ‘less-cash’ economy envisaged by the Centre and
    enhance convenience for bus passengers. Over 50 per cent of cash transactions
    are expected to shift to card transactions, thereby reducing cash usage,
    according to a press release.
  • Vijay Nehra, VC & MD, GSRTC,
    said YES Bank has waived all transaction charges for customers and was not
    charging rentals to GSRTC as part of its efforts to encourage the transition to
    a cashless economy.

MoU singed to develop IT Park in East UP’s Gorakhpur

  • Uttar Pradesh Electronics Corporation (UPEC),
    an undertaking of UP government’s IT & Electronics department, and Software
    Technology Parks of India (STPI) signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to
    develop an IT Park in Eastern UP’s Gorakhpur. The MoU was signed in presence of
    UP’s IT and Electronics Minister Manoj Kumar Pandey in Lucknow on Thursday.
  • Addressing the gathering on this
    occasion, Pandey said this project aims to generate employment opportunities
    for about 15000 people. He added the IT Park project in Gorakhpur will soon
    attract rural BPOs, Start-ups and entrepreneurs. According to the minister, a
    good space is reserved startups in this park.
  • The IT Park in Gorakhpur will be
    developed on 14500 square meter (3.58 acre) land. Gorakhpur Industrial
    Development Authority (GIDA) has provided land for this project. The work on
    this project is supposed to begin within three months.

LT Foods inks JV with Japanese snacks maker Kameda Seika

  • Branded rice, staples and organic
    foods maker LT Foods has inked a 51:49 joint venture with leading Japanese
    snacking firm Kameda Seika, to sell rice-based snacks in India.
  • The Rs 2,979-crore listed LT
    Foods, which makes Dawat packaged rice, staples and organic foods, along with
    Kameda Seika, will infuse a consolidated investment of $10 million in the joint
    venture in the first phase, Ashwani Arora, managing director of LT Foods told
    ET.
  • The snacks will be available in
    stores by March-April ’17, and will steer clear of entry-level price points of
    Rs 5 and 10. Instead, the plan is to compete at high-margin points and sell in
    SEC-A and B markets.

IBBI notifies three sets of regulations under Insolvency and Bankruptcy
Code, 2016
  • The Insolvency and Bankruptcy
    Board (IBBI) of India on 23 November 2016 notified three sets of regulations-
    (Insolvency Professional) Regulations, 2016; Regulations inter alia provide for
    registration, Regulation and oversight of insolvency professionals.
  • These regulations were notified
    under the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code, 2016 and will come into effect from
    29 November 2016.
  • All these regulations provide for
    registration, regulation and oversight of insolvency professionals under the
    Code.

Individuals eligible for
registration as an insolvency professional
  • Advocates, Chartered Accountants,
    Company Secretaries and Cost Accountants with 10 years’ of practice or
    employment.
  • A Graduate with 15 years of
    post-qualification managerial experience on passing the Limited Insolvency
    Examination.
  • Any individual who has passed the
    National Insolvency Examination.
  • However, Advocates, Chartered
    Accountants, Company Secretaries and Cost Accountants with more than 15 years
    of practice experience can register without any examination till 31 December
    2016 and such registration shall be valid for a limited period of six months.
  • There will be National Insolvency
    Examination and Limited Insolvency Examination. The syllabus and format of
    these examinations will be published on the website of the Board at least one
    month before the examination.
  • A limited liability partnership,
    a registered partnership firm or a company can be recognised as an insolvency
    professional entity if a majority of the partners or a majority of the
    whole-time directors are registered as insolvency professionals under the Code.
  • An insolvency professional can
    use the organisational resources of a recognised insolvency professional entity
    subjected to the condition that the entity as well as the insolvency
    professional will be liable for all acts of omission or commission of its
    partners as insolvency professionals.

CCEA approves setting up of
Jawahar Navodaya Vidyalayas in 62 districts

  • The Cabinet Committee on Economic
    Affairs (CCEA) on 23 November 2016 approved the setting up of Jawahar Navodaya
    Vidyalaya (JNV) in 62 uncovered districts with an outlay of Rs 2871 crore.
  • The expenses for this purpose
    will be Rs 109.53 crore during the 12th Plan with the total outlay of Rs
    2761.56 crore from the year 2017-18 to 2024-25.
  • It is expected that nearly 35000
    students will be benefitted from these JNVs.

Highlights of the Jawahar
Navodaya Vidyalaya (JNV)
  • It will provide good quality
    modern education to the talented children notably from rural areas.
  • A full-fledged JNV provides
    employment to 47 people and in view of that, 62 JNVs will provide direct
    permanent employment to 2914 individuals.
  • JNVs are residential and
    co-educational in nature, thereby, all the staff and students will reside in
    the Vidyalaya campus.
  • Due to its residential nature,
    JNVs will also generate opportunities for the local vendors for supply of food,
    consumables, furniture, teaching material, etc.
  • It will also create large
    opportunity for local service providers such as barber, tailor cobbler,
    manpower for housekeeping and security services.

Union Cabinet approves introduction of Merchant Shipping Bill, 2016
  • Union Cabinet on 23 November 2016
    approved the introduction of Merchant Shipping Bill, 2016 in the Parliament.
    Simultaneously, the cabinet also approved repealing of the Merchant Shipping
    Act, 1958 and the Coasting Vessels Act, 1838.
  • The Merchant Shipping Act, 1958
    has been amended 17 times between 1966 and 2014 resulting in an increase in the
    number of sections to more than 560 sections. However, these provisions have
    been shortened to 280 sections in the Bill.

Provisions of the Bill
  • It allows substantially-owned
    vessels and vessels on Bare Boat-cum-Demise (BBCD) to be registered as Indian
    flag vessels.
  • It recognises Indian controlled
    tonnage as a separate category.
  • It provides for issuing the
    licences to Indian flag vessels for coastal operation and for port clearance by
    the Customs authorities.
  • It directs owners of vessels to
    take insurance of crew engaged on vessels including fishing, sailing, etc. This
    applies for the vessels whose net tonnage is less than 15 tons.

India –
Portuguese PM Antonio Costa to be Chief Guest at Pravasi Bharatiya
Divas

  • The Union Ministry of External
    Affairs, Government of India, on 21 November 2016 announced that Antonio Costa,
    the Prime Minister of Portugal, accepted the proposal be the Chief Guest at the
    14th Pravasi Bharatiya Divas.
  • On the other hand, Michael Ashwin
    Satyandre Adhin, Vice President of the Republic of Suriname will be the Special
    Guest at the Youth Pravasi Bharatiya Divas.
  • The Pravasi Bharatiya Divas is
    scheduled to be held from 7 January to 9 January 2017 at Bengaluru in
    Karnataka. The Youth Pravasi Bharatiya Divas will be held on 7 January 2017.

Lists & Indexes –
ITU released Measuring the Information Society Report 2016, India
ranked 135th

  • UN International
    Telecommunication Union (ITU) released the 2016 edition of the Measuring the
    Information Society Report. The report was launched on 22 November 2016 during
    the World Telecommunication/ICT Indicators Symposium (WTIS).
  • WTIS was held in Botswana, South
    Africa from 21 November to 23 November 2016.
  • The ITU index prepared after
    surveying 175 economies of the world was topped by the Republic of Korea with
    IDI of 8.84. The Sub-Saharan Africa’s Niger with an IDI of 1.07 ranked lowest.
  • India was placed at 138th rank
    with IDI score of 2.69. In 2015, it stood at 135th position with IDI score of
    2.50.

Awards & Honors –
Malini Subramaniam wins 2016 CPJ International Press Freedom Award

  • Indian journalist Malini
    Subramaniam on 23 November 2016 won the International Press Freedom Awards
    given by Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) at the Waldorf-Astoria in New
    York City.
  • Along with Subramaniam, three
    other journalists won the prestigious award.
    They are Mahmoud Abou Zeid from Egypt, Can Dündar from Turkey and Oscar
    Martinez from El Salvador.
  • The CPJ chose these four
    journalists as “they have risked their freedom – and their lives – to report to
    their societies and the global community about critical news events.”
  • Subramaniam reports on buses by
    police and security forces, sexual violence against women, the jailing of
    minors, shutdown of schools, extrajudicial killings, and threats against
    journalists in the Bastar region in Chhattisgarh.

Appointments –
Trump names South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley as UN envoy

  • Donald
    Trump, the President-elect of the United States of America (USA), on 23
    November 2016 named South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley as the US Ambassador to
    the United Nations. With this, Haley becomes the first non-white female
    cabinet-level official to be appointed within the Trump administration.
  • She will be serving Carolina as
    its Governor until her nomination is not confirmed by the Senate.
  • Besides Nikki Haley,
    President-elect Trump also named Betsy DeVos as education secretary of the
    country. DeVos is a billionaire education philanthropist and activist.
  • While naming the two, Trump
    praised the two appointees. In a statement he said, ‘Haley was a proven deal
    maker and we look to be making plenty of deals’ and ‘Devos was a brilliant and
    passionate education advocate’.

World –
Turkey to chair 2017 Energy Club of Shanghai Cooperation Organization
  • Turkey will chair the Energy Club
    of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) in 2017. With this, it became
    the first non full member country to be the chairman of a club in the
    organisation.
  • Ankara’s proposal for non-SCO
    member countries to host the term presidency of the Energy Club was accepted in
    a meeting on 22 November 2016.
  • The nomination came after
    officials from Russia and China gave green signal to Ankara after the country’s
    President Recep Tayyip Erdogan pointed to the SCO as Turkey’s alternative to
    the European Union.

24th APEC Summit concludes in Peru
  • The 24th edition of Asia-Pacific
    Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit concluded on 20 November 2016 in Lima, Peru.
    The summit ended with adoption of the 2016 Leaders Declaration.
  • The summit also closed with a
    joint pledge to work toward a new free trade agreement that would include all
    21 members as a path to “sustainable, balanced and inclusive growth.”
  • The theme of the 24th APEC Summit
    was “Quality Growth and Human Development”. The architecture of Caral, an ancient
    city of Peru, served as the inspiration for the official logo of the APEC
    summit.

China launches Tianlian I-04 satellite
  • China on 22 November 2016
    successfully launched the Tianlian I-04 satellite from the Xichang Satellite
    Launch Centre in Sichuan province of Southwest China.
  • This data satellite was launched
    on a Long March-3C carrier rocket. The launch of the Tianlian I-04 marks the
    241st mission of China’s Long March series of rockets.

Obituaries –
Ex-Governor of Madhya Pradesh Ram Naresh Yadav passes away
  • Ram Naresh Yadav, former Governor
    of Madhya Pradesh, passed away on 22 November 2016 following a prolonged
    illness at a hospital in Lucknow. He was 90.
  • Yadav courted controversy after
    his name cropped up in the Vyapam recruitment scam during investigations. During
    the course of investigation of the Vyapam scam, the MP police’s Special Task
    Force (STF) registered an FIR against Ram Naresh Yadav which was later quashed
    by the High Court.

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Team ExamPundit

This post was last modified on November 27, 2017 8:55 am