Current Affairs Update – 26th July, 2016

Hello and welcome to exampundit . Here are the Important Current Affairs of 26th July, 2016. These are important for the upcoming UBI PO PGDBF and RBI Grade B Phase I Exams 2016.

• State Bank of India (SBI) has
  launched an Instant Money Transfer (IMT) Payment System on its ATMs in India.
• IMT enables a payment up to Rs.
  10000 to be made from any SBI bank account to a person using just his/her
  mobile number as the identifier. The recipient of this payment can withdraw
  funds instantly from an IMT-enabled ATM of SBI without using a debit card.
• SBI said this facility will be
  more useful for the migrant population who are regularly sending the money to
  their native places. IMT will also eliminate the middle men who are charging
  commission for remittances.
• IMT is a payment system launched
  in India by Empays Payment Systems. It enables a payment to be made to a mobile
  phone from a bank account. There is no requirement for the beneficiary to have
  a bank account. The receiver can obtain the funds immediately from any
  IMT-enabled ATM.

• Flipkart Ltd on 26 July 2016
  acquired online fashion portal Jabong through its unit Myntra in a move to
  maintain its position as the market leader. However, the financial details of
  the deal were not revealed.
• This acquisition will strengthen
  Flipkart Group’s position in Fashion and Lifestyle segment to compete with
  Amazon Fashion in India.

• The Central Government has
  approved an additional investment of Rs. 16,641 crore for affordable housing
  for construction of nearly 2.44 lakh houses for urban poor under Pradhan Mantri
  Awas Yojana (Urban).
• In a statement, the Ministry of
  Housing and Urban Poverty Alleviation said that this was done during the first
  four months of this financial year and will benefit urban poor in 11 States.
• The Central government will be
  providing assistance of Rs. 12,604 crore for construction of these houses.
  During the last financial year (2015-16), 6,83,724 houses were approved for the
  urban poor in 18 States with a total investment of Rs. 34,927 crore, the
  official statement added.

• State Bank of India, country
  largest commercial bank entered into an MoU with Indian Oil Corporation (IOC)
  to engage IOC Kisan Seva Kendras (KSK) as Business Correspondents (BCs) of SBI.
  The MoU is an initiative as part of the financial inclusion programme of SBI.
• IOC has set up 6,500 KSKs in
  rural and remote areas which provide access to various agricultural inputs like
  diesel, seeds, fertilizers, pesticides etc. to the farmers. The MoU with SBI
  will enable KSKs to make banking facilities available in the remotest parts of
  the country and also supplement their income by earning revenue on banking
  transactions.
• SBI is the largest financial
  services provider with 62,341 Customer Service Points (CSP) in India which
  handles over 1 million transactions per day. The initiative will help farmers
  to avail the facilities of various products and services by SBI CSPs viz.
  Savings Account, Term Deposit, Recurring Deposit, Micro Credit, Remittances,
  Social Security Schemes, Aadhaar Seeding through KSKs.
• The bank also facilitates farmers
  to buy agriculture inputs by using Rupay Debit Cards issued to them, thus
  eliminating the need to carry large amounts of cash.

• The 114-km long
  Rameswaram-Manamadurai stretch of Southern Railway in Tamil Nadu on 24 July
  2016 became India’s first Green Rail Corridor.
• This green corridor was
  inaugurated by of Southern Railway via videoconferencing from Chennai Central
  Station.
• This corridor ensure zero toilet
  discharge on rail tracks.
• Trains in the section are
  equipped with bio-toilets to ensure zero discharge of human waste on the rail
  tracks.

• The BSE has entered into a
  Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Stock Exchange of Mauritius (SEM)
  identifying broad areas for collaboration, which inter-alia include,
  investments, products, cyber security and various other initiatives.
• The MOU was signed during India
  Mauritius Global Partnership Conference, organized by India Mauritius Trade and
  Cultural Friendship Forum for promotion of bilateral relations, it said.

• Haryana Government on 25 July
  2016 notified the “Freight Assistance Scheme” for the exporting
  Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) located anywhere in the State.
• It has given time till September
  9 to submit the claim application on the web portal of the Industries and
  Commerce department for the financial year 2015-16.
• The decision was taken in
  backdrop of the additional cost that is borne by the MSMEs exporting unit
  located in the state due to large distances from the sea ports. This distance
  results in making their products non-competitive in comparison to the exporting
  units located in the coastal area.
• In order to enhance
  competitiveness of exporting units, this scheme would defray the transportation
  cost.

• Second phase of the Feed the
  Future-India Triangular Training Programme was launched on 25 July 2016. The
  programme was launched in New Delhi by the Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers
  Welfare and the U.S Agency for International Development (USAID).
• The programme will provide
  specialized agriculture training to 1500 agricultural professional across
  Africa and Asia.

• Objectives of Training: To
  address human and institutional capacity gaps in food & nutritional
  security in select African and Asian countries.

• Under this 32 Training programme
  of 15 day-duration will be conducted in India and 12 Training programs of 10
  days duration will be conducted in selected African and Asian Countries during
  2016-20.
• The entire expenditure will be
  met by USAID and National Institute of Agricultural Extension Management
  (MANAGE), Hyderabad.
• The training areas will be
  identified based on demand analysis conducted in participating countries.

• Union Government has decided to
  reduce the number of Maoist-affected districts by about a fifth.
• As per reports, about 20 out of
  106 districts described as being Maoist-affected and part of the Red Corridor
  may soon no longer be part of the list.
• Dropping of these districts from
  the list will result in drying of the financial aid given to the districts. The
  aid was being provided to the tune of 30 crore rupees annually for various
  developmental work.

• The red corridor expands in 106
  districts of 10 states of the country. The ten states are Bihar, Jharkhand,
  Andhra Pradesh, Maharashtra, Odisha, Telangana, West Bengal, Madhya Pradesh,
  Uttar Pradesh and Chhattisgarh.
• These districts are described as
  those affected by Left Wing Extremism (LWE) and constitute the Red Corridor.

• The United Nations Department of
  Field Support (DFS) on 22 July 2016 announced that India provided 100000 US
  dollar for the Trust Fund in support of victims of sexual exploitation and
  abuse.
• With this, India has become the
  first country in the world to make a contribution to the Trust Fund.
• The UN Secretariat had requested
  voluntary contributions to the Trust Fund when it was established.

• The first round-the-world solar
  powered flight by Solar Impulse 2 was completed on 26 July 2016 after the
  aircraft landed successfully in Abu Dhabi.
• The plane has travelled 26744
  miles since setting off from Abu Dhabi. The aircraft has racked up 558 hours of
  flight time.

• Gita Gopinath, a professor of
  International Studies and Economics at Harvard University and a resident of
  Weston, MA, has been appointed financial advisor to newly-elected Kerala Chief
  Minister Pinarayi Vijayan.
• The 38-year-old professor who hails
  from Kannur, the home district of Chief Minister, told India Today that she
  looked forward to serving the state in her new role.
• Gopinath also served as a member
  of the Eminent Persons Advisory Group on G-20 Matters for India’s Ministry of
  Finance. In 2011, she was chosen as a Young Global Leader by the World Economic
  Forum. Before coming to Harvard, she was an assistant professor of economics at
  the University of Chicago’s Graduate School of Business.

• Noted archaeologist Buddha Rashmi
  Mani was on 25 July 2016 appointed as Director General of National Museum for
  three years or till attaining the age of 70 years. His appointment was approved
  by Appointments Committee of Cabinet.
• He had retired as Additional
  Director General of the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) in 2015.

• Sanjiv Puri was on 25 July 2016
  appointed as the Chief Operating Officer of Kolkata-based ITC Ltd. with
  immediate effect. He will be responsible for running day-to-day operations of
  the company as COO, a position created for the first time at ITC.
• With this appointment, Puri has
  emerged the front-runner to succeed ITC Chairman YC Deveshwar, who will step
  down as Executive Chairman of ITC in February 2017. He will continue as
  Non-Executive Chairman for at least three years thereafter.

• Software majors TCS and Infosys,
  pharma giants Sun Pharma and Lupin and private sector lenders HDFC Bank and
  Axis Bank feature in Forbes India’s Super 50 List this year, while biggies like
  Tata Motors and HUL have been dropped.
• The list, in its second year,
  also features 14 newcomers, including Infosys, Maruti Suzuki, Bharat Forge,
  Alembic Pharma, Gillette India, HDFC Bank, Bajaj Finance, Kansai Nerolac and
  LIC Housing Finance, among others.
• Companies which have been dropped
  from the list include Tata Motors, Hindustan Unilever, MRF, Glaxo SmithKline
  Consumer Healthcare, Pfizer, Dr Reddy’s Labs, Glenmark Pharmaceuticals, HDFC
  and Kotak Mahindra Bank.

Regards

Team ExamPundit