Current Affairs Update – 26th June, 2015

Hello and welcome to ExamPundit. Here are the Important Current Affairs of 26th June, 2015. These are Important for the Upcoming SBI PO Mains Exam and RBI Assistant 2015 Exam.

Finance/RBI
RBI allowed AD
Category-I Banks to borrow from International Financial Institutions

  • The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) decided to allow Authorised
    Dealer Category I (AD Category-I) Banks to borrow foreign currency from
    International/Multinational Financial Institutions (IFIs/MFIs).
  • In this regard, a notification was issued by the RBI on 25 June
    2015.
  • Earlier, AD Cat-I Banks were allowed to borrow from
    IFIs/MFIs for a short period in 2013 with prior permission from the RBI on a
    case-by-case basis.
  • In contrast, as per the recent notification, the banks can
    borrow without any such prior approvals from the RBI.
  • However, these shall include only those IFIs in which the
    Government of India is a shareholding member or which have been established by
    more than one government or have shareholding by more than one government and
    other international organizations.
  • Further, such borrowings should be for the purpose of
    general banking business and not for capital augmentation.
  • Authorised Dealer Category -I Banks (AD Category–I Banks) is
    one of the three types of Authorised Money Changers (AMCs) approved by the RBI
    under Section 10 of the Foreign Exchange Management (FEMA) Act, 1999.
  • An AMC is a Full Fledged Money Changer (FFMC) permitted to
    deal in foreign exchange for specified purposes.
  • Other two AMCs are: Authorised Dealers Category – II (ADs
    Category–II) and Full Fledged Money Changers (FFMCs).
  • At present 102 entities are recognised as AD Category–I
    Banks including State Bank of India, Canara Bank and Axis Bank Ltd.

RBI released
Financial Stability Report June 2015
  • The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on 25 June 2015 released the
    Financial Stability Report (FSR) June 2015. It is the eleventh issue of its
    half yearly publication.
  • The FSR reflected the collective assessment of the
    Sub-Committee of the Financial Stability and Development Council (FSDC) on risks
    to financial stability, as also the resilience of the financial system.
  • Besides, the report discussed issues relating to development
    and regulation of the financial sector.

Exim Bank lends $268
mn to Tanzania to extend water pipeline

  • Export-Import (Exim) Bank has extended a line of credit of
    USD 268.35 million to Tanzania for financing extension of Lake Victoria
    pipeline.
  • With this agreement, Exim Bank has now in place 198 LOCs,
    covering 63 countries in Africa, Asia, Latin America, Europe, Oceania and the
    CIS, with credit commitments of over USD 12.10 billion, available for financing
    exports from India.
  • Further, Exim Bank has also extended buyer’s credit under
    National Export Insurance Account (NEIA) of USD 29.61 million to Tanzania to
    finance supply of 777 vehicles from India.
  • It will also cover financing of spares and training in
    operation and maintenance to the Department of Police Force, Ministry of Home
    Affairs, Tanzania.
  • Till date, the bank has sanctioned an aggregate amount of
    USD 2.33 billion for 19 projects valued USD 3.75 billion under the BC-NEIA.

APMDC signed MoU with
NSL Mining Resources India Pvt Ltd for iron ore mining projects
  • The Andhra Pradesh Mining Development Corporation (APMDC) 24
    June 2015 signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with an Australian firm
    NSL Mining Resources India Pvt Ltd for beneficiation of low-grade iron ore in
    Kurnool and Kadapa districts.
  • The beneficiation of low-grade iron ore process includes
    separation of the required mineral from extracted ore and removal of the
    unusable part.
  • The MoU was signed during AP Chief Minister N. Chandrababu
    Naidu’s meeting with an Australian delegation led by Steven Ciobo,
    Parliamentary Secretary to the Australian Trade and Investment Minister.
  • NSL Mining Resources India Pvt Ltd is a subsidiary of
    Australian NSL Consolidated Ltd while APMDC works under the Andhra Pradesh
    Government.

India
Two-day long annual
Hemis festival of Ladakh

  • Two-day long annual Hemis festival dedicated to the Guru
    Padmasambhava began on 26 June 2015 in largest monastery of Ladakh Hemis Gompa
    (monastery) of Jammu and Kashmir.
  • Hemis festival is celebrated to mark the birth anniversary
    of Guru Padmasambhava. During this festive season, Lamas called ‘chhams,’
    perform masked dances and sacred plays to the accompaniment of cymbals, drums
    and long horns. The head lama presides over the function.
  • The festival takes an auspicious turn every 12 years in the
    Tibetan Year of the Monkey, when the two-storey high Thanka depicting
    Padmasambhava is displayed.

Union Government
asked Bihar, TN, Rajasthan to introduce milk in mid day meal scheme
  • Union Government on 25 June 2015 requested the Chief
    Ministers of Bihar, Tamil Nadu and Rajasthan to encourage supply of free milk
    in the Mid Day Meal to school children.
  • Milk Products will be provided with an aim to increase the
    nutritional level in the Mid Day Meal for school children.
  • The decision was made in a review meeting in which it was
    found that the State Milk Federations of these states have surplus stock of
    skimmed milk powder.
  • In relation to supply of free milk products to students,
    Union Agriculture Minister Radha Mohan Singh has written a letter to these
    states.

Assam’s Ambubachi
Mela concluded
  • The four-day long Ambubachi Mela at Kamakhaya Devi temple at
    Guwahati, Assam concluded on 26 June 2015. With this, the door of the Shakti
    shrine at Nilachal hillock was re-opened for devotees.
  • The Ambubachi Mela also known as Ambubachi Festival that
    started on 23 June 2015 was visited by around 7 lakh 50 thousand pilgrims from
    various parts of the world.

Sports
Satnam Singh becomes
the first Indian to be picked for NBA

  • Satnam Singh Bhamara became the first Indian basketball
    player to be drafted in the National Basketball Association (NBA) after being picked
    by Dallas Mavericks here.
  • The 19-year-old, who hails from a remote village in Punjab
    and stands 7 feet 2 inches tall, was the 52nd pick in the NBA Draft.
  • Satnam Singh was selected amongst the 60 young men who will
    play basketball in the NBA next season.
  • Gursimran “Sim”
    Bhullar was the first player of Indian origin to play in the NBA
    when he
    turned out for the Kings in three games in April.
  • Since their inaugural 1980-81 season, The Dallas Mavericks
    have won three division titles (1987, 2007, 2010), two conference championships
    (2006, 2011), and one NBA Championship (2011).

Leander Paes became
47th player to join 100 partners club on ATP Circuit
  • India’s tennis player Leander Paes on 24 June 2015 became
    the 47th player to play with 100 different partners on ATP Circuit.
  • The 42-year-old achieved this land mark feat when he joined
    Marcel Granollers of Spain in a match against Treat Huey and Scott Lipsky at
    the Aegon Open in Nottingham, the UK.
  • Of these 100 partners, While 71 played with him on the tour
    level, 29 at the Challenger level.
  • Among all the partners, Paes had been most successful with
    his Indian partner Mahesh Bhuapthi with whom he won three of his eight men’s
    doubles Grand Slam titles.
  • He won two each with Radek Stepanek and Lukas Dlouhy and one
    with Martin Damm. Incidentally, all of them are from Czech Republic.

Awards
& Honors –
2014 Moortidevi Award
for Hindi Author Vishwanath Tripathi

  • The 28th Moortidevi Award for 2014 has gone to the work
    Vyomkesh Darvesh written by noted Hindi writer Vishwanath Tripathi.
  • The award was announced after a selection board with
    illustrious personalities met at the India International Centre here today
    under the chairmanship of M Veerappa Moily.
  • The fictional biography Vyomkesh Darvesh is of noted Hindi
    critic Hazariprasad Dwivedi, considered a doyen of Hindi language.
  • Born on February 16, 1931 in Bishkohar village of district
    Basti in Uttar Pradesh, Tripathi was a student of the Banaras Hindu University
    and Panjab University.
  • He has penned a number of unique works that include Lokwadi
    Tulsidas, Meera Ka Kavya, Desh ke is Daur Main, Kuch Kahaniyan Kuch Vichar, Ped
    Ka Hath, Jaisa Kaha Saka and Nagatlai Ka Gaon.
  • The Moortidevi Award constituted by the Bhartiya Jnanpith is
    presented annually for a “contemplative and perceptive work which
    expresses, underlines and illumines human values rooted in the broad vision of
    Indian philosophy and cultural heritage.”
  • Books written in English and all Indian languages are
    considered for the Prize, which comprises a cash award of Rs four lakhs, a
    statue and a citation plaque.
  • Apart from Moily, the selection board members include
    Thankamoni Amma, Kedarnath Singh, Sheenkaf Nizam, Veer Sagar Jain, Jayant
    Parmar, Bishnu N Mohapatra, Prabhakar Shrotriya and Leeladhar Mandloi.

Appointments
Ericsson appoints
Paolo Colella as India chief

  • Swedish telecom equipment maker Ericsson today appointed
    Paolo Colella as India Head with effect from September 1.
  • Colella succeeds Chris Houghton who will assume the role as
    Head of North East Asia region, the company said in a statement.
  • Colella, who assumes his new role effective September 1, has
    been responsible for Ericsson’s consulting and systems integration practise globally
    for around six years.
  • Prior to this, he worked as Executive VP Sales and Marketing
    at Ericsson United Kingdom. He joined Ericsson in 2001 as Vice President –
    Global Services at Ericsson Italia and since then has held different positions
    within sales and marketing, services and key account management.

World
World’s first
flexible and skin-like display developed
  • A team of scientists led by Indian-American Debashis Chanda
    from University of Central Florida (UCF) developed a nature-inspired technique
    for creating the world’s first full-colour, flexible thin-film reflective
    display. The findings were published in Nature Communications journal on 11
    June 2015.
  • This technology can help you switch your dress colour to a
    different colour in the blink of an eye, if someone at a wedding reception is
    wearing the same dress as yours.

Days
International Day
Against Drug Abuse and Illicit Trafficking observed globally
  • The International Day Against Drug Abuse and Illicit
    Trafficking was on 26 June 2015 observed globally with the theme Let’s Develop
    our Lives, our Communities, our identities without Drugs.
  • This important day was created by the United Nations General
    Assembly on 7 December 1987 to help create a society free of illegal drugs and
    drug abuse.  Each year the United Nations
    Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) selects a theme for the day.
  • The day is observed internationally by various countries by
    spreading awareness about Drug Abuse and Illicit Trafficking through events and
    programmes.

Obituaries
Former Russian PM
Yevgeny Primakov dies at 85
  • Former Russian Prime Minister Yevgeny Primakov, whose career
    included journalism, diplomacy and spycraft, has died at age 85.
  • The Kremlin said on Friday that President Vladimir Putin has
    offered condolences to Primakov’s family. The cause of death wasn’t immediately
    known.
  • Primakov had deep experience in the Middle East, where he
    worked as a correspondent for the Soviet daily Pravda, and both Soviet leader
    Mikhail Gorbachev and Mr. Putin used him as point man to try to head off wars
    with Iraq. As Premier, he sought but failed to prevent NATO from bombing Yugoslavia
    in the war over Kosovo.
  • But Primakov was more influential at home, and in 1999 was
    widely seen as a likely successor to Boris Yeltsin as President, before being
    undermined by negative television coverage orchestrated by supporters of Mr.
    Putin.

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