Current Affairs Update – 26th February, 2016

Hello and welcome to ExamPundit. Here are the important Current Affairs of 26th February, 2016. These are important for the last phase of the LIC AAO 2016n as well as other Bank an Insurance Exams in 2016.

• The Economic Survey for 2015-16,
  tabled in Parliament by Finance Minister Arun Jaitley on Friday, pegged India’s
  gross domestic product (GDP) to grow by 7-7.75 per cent next financial over
  this year.
• The upper part of the range  given in the Survey is slightly higher than
  the 7.6 per cent, officially pegged for the current financial year, while the
  lower part is way down.
• The Survey was hopeful that the
  economy could clock eight per cent economic growth in a couple of years due to
  reform measures initiated by the government.

• Retirement fund body EPFO has
  tightened norms on withdrawal of provident fund as well investment of such
  amount in Varishtha Pension Bima Yojana for its over five crore subscribers.
• Now, the subscribers will not be
  able to claim withdrawal of their provident fund after attaining age of 54
  years. They would have to wait till attaining the age 57 years. The ministry
  has notified new rules.
• As per the earlier norms, the
  Employees’ Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO) subscribers were allowed to claim
  90 per cent of their accumulations in their PF account at the age of 54 years
  and their claims were settled just one year before their retirement.
• In another change, EPFO has made
  it mandatory to wait till attaining the age of 57 for claiming PF withdrawal
  for transferring that to the Life Insurance Corporation of India for investment
  in Varishtha Pension Bima Yojana.
• Earlier norms used to allow
  subscribers to claim 90 per cent of their accumulations for investing in the
  scheme after attaining the age of 55 years.
• The EPFO has also amended the
  scheme for appointment of upto Joint Secretary level officers by its apex
  decision making body the Central Board of Trustees’ (CBT).

• The Reserve Bank of India (RBI)
  asked lenders to spread out, in equal instalments, provisions they make when
  they take over troubled loan accounts under a special restructuring programme
  to deal with stressed assets.
• The RBI asked banks to build up
  over four quarters provisions amounting to at least 15% of the loan for
  so-called strategic debt restructuring (SDR). In that programme, banks will
  swap part of the loan for majority ownership of a troubled company and then
  look for a new owner.
• Indian banks are coping with $117
  billion of stressed loans. Critics say the SDR programme helped banks
  camouflage the scale of the problem, because they did not have to make extra
  provisions and they would struggle to sell the companies they were acquiring
  through debt-for-equity swaps.
• Under other amendments to SDR
  announced on Thursday, the RBI also said lenders will be required to sell at
  least 26% of the exchanged equity in a troubled company within 18 months to
  keep the loan’s current classification.
• The revised rules will be
  applicable prospectively, the regulator said, but added it would be prudent for
  banks to follow the new rules in cases where they have already decided to
  undertake strategic debt restructuring.

• Dr Avinash Chander, former
  scientific advisor to the defence minister and ex-DRDO chief, today received
  the prestigious Astronautical Society of India’s Aryabhata Award.
• He received the award from Dr R
  Chidambaram, principal scientific advisor to government of India, and Dr A S
  Kiran Kumar, chairman ISRO, at ASI-ISRO Awards function held at Space Applications
  Centre in Ahmedabad.
• The Aryabhata Award, named after
  the fifth century Indian astronomer and mathematician and also in commemoration
  of the first Indian satellite, Aryabhata, is presented annually to an
  individual for outstanding lifetime contribution to the promotion of
  astronautics in India.
• The award consists of a citation
  and Rs 1 lakh in cash.

• YES Bank, India’s fifth largest
  private sector bank, on 23 February 2016 received the prestigious Green Bond
  Pioneer Award for being the Pioneers in Emerging Markets-India in an award
  ceremony at London Stock Exchange (LSE), London.
• YES Bank was recognised for its
  pioneering efforts in the Green Bonds market, including the highly successful
  issuance of India’s first ever Green Infrastructure Bonds.
• YES Bank is the only Indian bank
  to be recognized in these first ever Green Bond Awards. Winners in other
  categories include World Bank, Bank of America Merrill Lynch, Peoples Bank of
  China (PBoC) and Ile De France amongst others.

• The Union Government on 25
  February 2016 appointed Rajendra Singh as the Director General (DG) of Indian
  Coast Guard, the country’s coastal protection force. This is the first time an
  officer who is not from the Indian Navy has been elevated to the position.
• The director general’s post has
  so far only been held by officers who were commissioned in the Indian Navy.
• The Appointments Committee of
  Cabinet had cleared the name of Singh as the next DG, with the Department of
  Personnel and Training issuing an order.

• Japanese auto maker Honda Motor
  Company on 23 February 2016 announced that it had appointed Yoichiro Ueno as
  the President and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of its car operations in India.
• Ueno will replace Katsushi Inoue
  on 1 April 2016. Inoue has been named Operating Officer of Honda Motor and
  Chief Operating Officer for regional operations (Europe region).

• Online fashion store Jabong today
  announced the appointment of Muralikrishnan B, former eBay India country
  manager, and senior e-commerce and consumer internet executive, as the company’s
  chief operating officer.
• This is the fourth top-level
  hiring at Jabong in three months, even as Sanjeev Mohanty took over as chief
  executive in December 2015.
• Mr. Muralikrishnan will directly
  report to Mr. Mohanty and will be responsible for overseeing the technology,
  product and digital marketing functions, the statement said.
• Prior to joining Jabong, he was
  Chief Operating Officer of online real estate portal IndiaProperty, before
  which he co-founded a start-up in the digital health space.

• The Diageo-controlled United
  Spirits (USL) today announced the appointment of M K Sharma as its new
  chairman, a day after the embattled liquor baron Vijay Mallya resigned from the
  post.
• Mallya’s exit from the board of
  United Spirits ended a long-drawn tussle between him and the majority owner,
  UK’s Diageo, following allegations of irregularities on loans given to UB Group
  companies.
• Mallya will have the honorary title
  of founder emeritus, USL.
• The development follows three
  state-owned banks — Punjab National Bank, United Bank and SBI — declaring
  him, his group holding company United Breweries Holdings Ltd and the
  long-defunct Kingfisher Airlines as wilful defaulters.
• A bank consortium led by SBI has
  decided to auction Kingfisher House in Mumbai on March 17 this year to recover
  a part of the Rs 6,963 crore dues from Kingfisher.
• USL is now controlled by the
  world’s largest spirits maker Diageo, which had acquired an additional 26%
  stake in USL for Rs 11,448.91 crore in July to take its total share in the
  Indian firm to 54.78%.

• Bangladeshi cricketer Mashrafe
  Bin Mortaza was on 25 February 2016 appointed as National Goodwill Ambassador
  For Youth by the United National Development Programme (UNDP).
• In this regard, UNDP Bangladesh
  Resident Representative Robert Watkins presented Mortaza with a certificate of
  his official appointment in Dhaka.
• With this appointment, Mortaza
  also became the first personality to be appointed as a goodwill ambassador for
  youth development in Bangladesh.
• In his new role, Mortaza, who is
  leading the national cricket team both in ODIs and T20 formats, will advocate
  for youth employment in Bangladesh and help in country’s efforts in advancing
  the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

• Maharashtra Government on 24
  February 2016 finalised a Project Management Consultant (PMC) for the proposed
  Chhatrapati Shivaji Memorial in the Arabian Sea. The project scheduled to be
  completed by 2018 will be executed at an expense of 84 crore rupees.
• The consultant was finalised at a
  meeting headed by Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis. As per the decision a
  consortium of Egis India Consulting Engineers Pvt Ltd and Design Associates
  were appointed as the PMC.
• PMC will finalise the concept
  design, float tenders and oversee the implementation of the project.
  Chairperson of the Oversee committee MLC Vinayak Methe said that the agreement
  will be signed with the consortium within a week’s time.

• The Spices Board is setting up
  Gujarat’s first quality evaluation laboratory at the Kandla, The facility,
  which will be operational by end of March this year, wil provide analytical
  services to the Indian spice industry, monitor the quality of spices produced
  and processed in the country and analyse all the samples collected by the
  Board.
• According to industry sources,
  Gujarat is an important centre for cumin (jeera), coriander, fennel production
  and exports. This lab will be helpful to improve quality products in the state.
• The Spices Board has set up
  similar laboratories at Mumbai, Kochi, Guntur, Chennai, New Delhi and
  Tuticorin.
• The laboratory can test samples
  for various parameters like total plate count, yeast and mould count,
  coliforms, aflatoxin, moisture, colour value and volatile oil.

• Mumbai Police on 25 February 2016
  created 16 no-selfie zones around the city. The action was taken in response to
  several deaths of people taking selfies.
• This enforcement of the order is
  police’s bid to discourage people from putting themselves at risk while taking
  selfies.
• The spots include popular
  sea-fronts like Bandra Bandstand, Marine Drive and Juhu Chowpatty.
• The process of identifying and
  marking certain spots in the city as ‘No Selfie Zones’ was initiated by Mumbai
  police in January 2016.
• India is home to 19 of the
  world’s 49 reported selfie deaths since 2014. These include two people who died
  earlier in February 2016 after one tried to take a selfie near a dam in the
  town of Nashik. A classmate who jumped in to try to save the man also drowned.

• Jain Irrigation System founder
  Chairman and Padmashri awardee Bhavaralal Jain — who pioneered
  micro-irrigation system in India — died here today after a brief illness.
• Jain, who was a renowned
  industrialist in Jalgaon and a pioneer in Indian agriculture, passed away in
  Jaslok Hospital today afternoon. He had been undergoing medical treatment at
  the hospital for the past 10 days, the company said in statement.
• Jain would be remembered for
  transforming the lives of millions of farmers by pioneering the micro
  irrigation system in India.

Regards

Team ExamPundit

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