Current Affairs Update – 27-28-29-30 Jan, 2015

• The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) signed a Memorandum of
  Understanding (MoU) on Supervisory Cooperation and Exchange of Supervisory
  Information with Brazil’s Central Bank, Banco Central do Brasil (BCB) on 26
  December 2014.
• The information related to MoU was announced by RBI through
  its notification released on 27 January 2015.
• The MoU was signed by Anthero de Moraes Meirelles, Deputy
  Governor for Supervision, BCB and SS Mundra, Deputy Governor, Reserve Bank of
  India.
• The Reserve Bank has been signing the Memorandum of
  Understanding/ Exchange of Letters/Statement of Co-operation with supervisors
  of other countries to promote greater co-operation and sharing of supervisory
  information among the authorities.
• With this the Reserve Bank has signed 23 such MoUs, one
  Letter for Supervisory Cooperation and one Statement of Cooperation (SoC) with
  regulators/supervisors of other countries.

• Apple Inc on 27 January 2015 recorded highest quarterly
  profit of 18 billion US dollar. The company sold 74.5 million iPhones in
  quarter ending December 2014.
• According to S&P analyst Howard Silverblatt, the profit
  of 18 billion US dollar was the largest profit ever made by a public company in
  the corporate history worldwide.
• The revenue of the Apple Inc rose to 74.6 billion US dollar
  in 2014 from 57.6 billion US dollar in 2013. Apple now has a cash pile up of
  178 billion US dollar which is enough to buy IBM or the equivalent to pay 556
  US dollar to every American.
• The success of Apple in the competitive Chinese market can
  be attributed to its partnership with China Mobile Limited the largest global
  mobile carrier, and the appeal of the larger screen size of the iPhone 6 and 6
  Plus.
• The big-screen iPhone 6 and 6 plus drove revenues in China
  which increased by 70 percent in the quarter ending December 2014 compared to
  quarter ending December 2013.  Also, the
  sale of iPhone doubled in Singapore and Brazil.

• The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) on 28
  January 2015 approved mandatory packaging of food-grains and sugar in Jute
  material for the Jute Year 2014-15 with certain exemptions.
• This decision will preserve and promote the jute sector. The
  minimum percentage of food-grains and sugar reserved for packaging in Jute for
  the Jute Year 2014-15:
• Food-grains: 90 percent of the production
• Sugar: 20 percent of the production
• In case of food-grains, the indents for the whole
  requirement will be placed for the jute bags. However, if jute mills will not
  be able to provide the jute bags as per the demand, then a dilution of 10
  percent will be permitted by the Department of Food in consultation with the
  Union Ministry of Textiles.

• Steve Easterbrook was on 28 January 2015 appointed as the
  Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of McDonald’s Corporation with effect from 1 March
  2015.
• Steve Easterbrook will succeed Don Thompson who decided to
  retire as President and Chief Executive Officer of McDonald’s on 1 March 2015
  after spending nearly 25 years in the company. Thompson was the first
  African-American to head the company since it was founded in 1955.
• Easterbrook was also elected to the Board of Directors to
  fill the vacancy created by Thompson. He is currently Chief Brand Officer of
  the company.
• Meanwhile, McDonald’s gave no reason for the abrupt
  retirement of the Thompson. However, the change in management came after two
  years of worsening sales of McDonald’s in US market.

• Union Cabinet on 28 January 2015 approved Memorandum of
  Understanding (MoU) on Tourism between India and Oman.
• The MoU will strengthen cooperation in the field of tourism
  between tourism ministries of both the countries.

• Expand bilateral cooperation in the tourism sector
• Exchange information and data related to tourism
• Encourage cooperation between tourism stakeholders including
  hotels and tour operators
• Establish exchange programme for cooperation in Human
  Resource Development
• Invest in the tourism and hospitality sectors
• Promote safe, honourable and sustainable tourism

• The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) on 28
  January 2015 approved a proposal of HDFC Bank to raise the foreign holding
  limit to 74 per cent. The decision will enable inflow of around 10000 crore
  rupees into the country from overseas investors.
• HDFC Bank would raise the fund through issuing of equity
  shares to non-resident Indians (NRIs) or foreign institutional investors (FIIs)
  or foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) subject to aggregate foreign shareholding
  not exceeding 74 per cent of the post issue paid up capital.
• Earlier in November 2014, Foreign Investment promotion Board
  (FIPB) had cleared the proposal of HDFC Bank to hike the foreign holding limit
  to 74 percent.
• Total foreign investment in HDFC Bank was 73.39 percent at
  the end of June 2014. It had come down to 73.2 percent at the end of September
  2014.
• Besides, CCEA also allowed drug maker Lupin to raise the
  limit of Foreign Institutional Investor (FII) holding to 49 percent. This would
  facilitate an inflow of 6099 crore rupees.As per the norms, the Foreign
  Investment Promotion Board (FIPB) can only take up FDI proposals up to  1200 crore rupees. Beyond that, they are sent
  to CCEA for approval.

• World Bank on 28 January 2015 released a report titled
  Scaling the Heights: Social Inclusion and Sustainable Development in Himachal
  Pradesh.
• It is the first report of its kind for Himachal Pradesh. It
  is a macro-social account of the state’s achievements over the past several
  decades. Simultaneously, it is an interdisciplinary attempt to understand the
  confluence of factors that allowed the state to move toward social inclusion
  and sustainable development.

• Per capita income in Himachal Pradesh is the second highest
  in the country – an impressive achievement given that more than 90 percent of
  its residents live in rural areas.
• Educational attainment is among the highest in the country,
  and the share of women in the workforce is larger than in most other states.
• Himachal Pradesh is the first state in the country to have
  banned the use of plastic bags.  The
  state is also a trail-blazer in sanitation and is the first among its north
  Indian neighbours to come close to becoming open defecation free.

• Online restaurant search service provider Zomato Media Pvt
  Ltd on 29 January 2015 acquired Turkish company Mekanist for an undisclosed
  sum.
• With the acquisition of Mekanist in an all cash deal,
  Zomato’s restaurant coverage will increase to more than 75000 across Turkey
  from about 27500 now.
• The Mekanist team will integrate into Zomato and all of
  Mekanist’s traffic and restaurant-related content will move to Zomato.
  Moreover, Mekanist app users will be able to use the Zomato app.
• Turkish restaurants will be able to make use of Zomato’s
  hyper-local advertising model to reach out to target customers that are
  searching for restaurants in and around their location.

• United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD)
  on 29 January 2015 released Global Investment Trend Monitor Report. The report
  provides the global investments trend in 2014 and prospects of global
  investments in 2015.
• The report highlights that Global Foreign Direct Investment
  (FDI) inflows declined by 8 percent in 2014 to an estimated 1.26 trillion US
  dollars due to the fragility of the global economy, political uncertainty and
  geopolitical risks.
• In 2014, Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) flow in India
  increased by 26 percent to an estimated 35 billion US dollar with maximum
  growth in the services sector, despite the decline in global FDI inflows.

• FDI flows to developed countries dropped by 14 percent to an
  estimated 511 billion US dollar, which was significantly affected by large
  divestment in the United States
• FDI flows to the European Union (EU) reached an estimated
  267 billion US dollar, which was 13 percent increase on 2013, but is still only
  one-third of the 2007 peak
• FDI flows to transition economies more than halved to 45
  billion US dollar, this happened due to regional conflict, sanctions on the
  Russian Federation. The negative growth prospects deterred foreign investors
  (especially from developed countries) from investing in the region
• FDI inflows in developing economies reached a new high of
  more than 700 billion US dollar, which was 4 percent higher than 2013, with
  global share of 56 percent
• At the regional level, flows to developing Asia were up, to Africa
  remained flat, while FDI to Latin America declined
• Cross-border Mergers and Acquisitions (M&A) rose by 19
  percent, driven mainly by restructuring deals.
• In 2014, Greenfield investment projects rose by 3
  percent 

• In 2014, China was the largest recipient of FDI with an
  increase of 3 percent FDI. As largest recipient of FDI, China replaced the US,
  a position that was held by it since 1980s.

• China with 128 billion US dollar
• Hong Kong with 111 billion US dollar
• The United States with 86 billion US dollar
• Singapore with 81 billion US dollar
• Brazil with 62 billion US dollar

• In 2014 FDI flow in India increased by 26 percent to an
  estimated 35 billion US dollar with maximum growth in the services sector,
  despite the decline in global Foreign Direct Investment inflows.
• Maximum growth was witnessed in services sector especially
  in electricity, gas, water, waste management and information and communication.
  This figure is one of the highest in recent years, though in 2008 FDI peaked in
  India with 47 billion dollars followed by 35.6 billion dollar in 2009.

• Poetess Arundhathi Subramaniam on 24 January 2015 won the
  inaugural Khushwant Singh Memorial Prize for Poetry at Jaipur Literature
  Festival. She was awarded for her work When God is a Traveller. 
• Subramaniam’s name was chosen from a list of 5 shortlisted
  names which were announced on 10 October 2014.

• Escape Artist by Sridala Swami
• Central Time by Ranjit Hoskote
• Fire Altar by Keki N Daruwalla
• Selected Poems by Joy Goswami translated by Sampurna
  Chattarji

• Where I Live published
• Sadhguru: More Than a Life
• The Book of Buddha
• On Cleaning Bookshelves

• Divya Prakash Sinha was on 25 January 2015 appointed as
  Secretary (Security) in the Union Cabinet Secretariat. His appointment was
  approved by Appointments Committee of the Cabinet (ACC).
• The post of Secretary (Security) had been lying vacant since
  November 2013 when then Secretary Yashovardhan Azad resigned after being
  appointed as Information Commissioner by the Union Government.
• The move is part of the Government’s effort to fill up key
  posts in the security establishment.
• Divya Prakash Sinha is a 1979 batch IPS officer of the
  Manipur-Tripura cadre. He has served the Intelligence Bureau (IB) for several
  years handling operations in key regions such as the Northeast and New Delhi.

• India’s Ambassador to the US, Dr. S Jaishankar was appointed
  as the Foreign Secretary on 28 January 2015. He will have tenure of two years
  from the date he assumes charge.
• The decision of appointing Jaishankar as the Foreign
  Secretary was taken by the Appointments Committee of Cabinet (ACC) chaired by
  Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
• Jaishankar replaced current Foreign Secretary Sujatha Singh
  whose tenure was curtailed by nearly seven months. Singh’s two-year tenure was
  to end in August 2015. She was appointed as Foreign Secretary in 2013.
• Jaishankar’s appointment came few days before he was
  supposed to retire. He was due to retire on 31 January 2015.

• Wing Commander Pooja Thakur on 25 January 2015 became the
  first lady officer to lead the Inter-Service Guard of Honour for a major
  visiting dignitary at the Rashtrapati Bhavan (presidential palace). The Guard
  of Honour was inspected by the US President Barack Obama.
• Thakur leading the Inter-Service Guard of Honour was in line
  with the theme of Nari Shakti (Women Power) chosen for the 2015 Republic Day
  parade. The 2015 parade also saw all women contingents of the army, air force
  and navy walking down the Rajpath for the first time.
• Thakur joined Indian Air Force in 2000 and belongs to
  administrative branch. She is currently posted at DISHA, the publicity cell
  under the Directorate of Personnel Officers at the Air Force Headquarters. Her
  father retired as a Colonel from the Indian Army.

• The Bhagabatpur Crocodile Project in Sunderbans was in news
  in January 2015. It was in news because it got a fresh start with the help of
  renowned experts in herpetology who introduced global best practices in
  crocodile conservation.
• The project was started in mid-1970s with an aim to increase
  the number of saltwater crocodiles, a Schedule-I species under Wildlife
  Protection Act, 1972. The project is situated next to the uninhabited Lothian
  Island, far from the mainland in the Sunderbans archipelago.

• K Durga Prasad was appointed as the Special Director General
  (DG) of the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) on 27 January 2015. Prasad, an
  IPS officer of 1981 batch from Andhra Pradesh cadre will be in office for next
  three years or till further orders are given.
• Earlier, Prasad served as the director of the Special
  Protection Group (SPG). SPG provides security to the Prime Minister, former
  Prime Ministers and their family members.

• Mahatma Gandhi was today fondly remembered on his 67th death
  anniversary with President Pranab Mukherjee and Prime Minister Narendra Modi
  leading the country in paying homage to the Father of the Nation.
• Mukherjee laid a wreath at Gandhi’s memorial at Rajghat.
• Vice President Mohammad Hamid Ansari and Prime Minister
  Narendra Modi accompanied by Union Urban Development Minister Venkaiah Naidu
  also paid floral tributes to the apostle of peace. Congress President Sonia
  Gandhi and former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh were among the leaders who paid
  homage to the Mahatma at his memorial.
• A two-minute silence in memory of Gandhi was observed.
• The three service chiefs, Air Chief Marshal Arup Raha,
  Admiral Robin Dhowan and General Dalbir Singh Suhag, paid tributes followed by
  Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar and Minister of State for Defence Rao
  Inderjit Singh. A gun salute was also given on the occasion.

• The Union Cabinet on 28 January 2015 reconstituted the
  Empowered Committee on setting up of Semiconductor Wafer Fabrication (FAB)
  manufacturing facilities in the country. The reconstituted committee will be
  headed by NITI Aayog member V K Saraswat.

• K. Radhakrishnan, former Chairman of Indian Space Research
  Organisation
• M.J. Zarabi, former Chairman of Semiconductor Complex
  Limited
• Narendra Krishna Karmarkar, Visiting Professor of IIT-Bombay
• Ratan P. Watal, Secretary of Department of Expenditure,
• Amitabh Kant, Secretary of Department of Industrial Policy
  and Promotion
• R.S. Sharma, Secretary of Department of Electronics and
  Information technology

• The setting up of FAB units will promote Electronics System
  Design and manufacturing in India which will stimulate the flow of capital and
  technology.
• Besides, these units will also create employment
  opportunities, help higher value addition in the electronic products
  manufactured, reduce dependence on imports and lead to innovation.

• Renowned music composer and actor Shekhar Sen was on 29
  January 2015 appointed as the Chairman of the Sangeet Natak Akademi (SNA). He
  was appointed for a term of 5 years with immediate effect.
• Shekhar Sen will succeed Leela Samson who resigned from the
  position on 5 September 2014. The post was lying vacant since October 2014.

• Union Ministry of Road Transport & Highways (MoRTH) on
  28 January 2015 launched Website, Logo, Vision and Mission of National Highways
  and Infrastructure Development Corporation Limited (NHIDCL).
• These were launched by the Union Minister for Road Transport,
  Highways and Shipping Nitin Gadkari.
• Website: www.nhidcl.com
• Logo: Building Infrastructure – Building the Nation
• Vision: To be an instrument for creation and management of
  infrastructure of the highest standard in the country with focus on the North
  East and Border areas and contribute significantly towards nation building.
• Mission: To be a professional company which works in most
  efficient and transparent manner and designs, develops & delivers
  infrastructure projects in a time bound basis for maximizing benefits to all
  stakeholders.
• Besides, the Ministry also floated first tender for
  upgrading 2-lane Akajan-Likabali-Bame Road in Arunachal Pradesh at a cost of
  272 crore rupees.

• The entertainment platform of Eros International Media,
  ErosNow on 28 January 2015 tied-up with RailTel Corporation of India Limited
  (RailTel) to provide Streaming Services to Rail Passengers through Eros
  broadband.
• With the help of this tie-up, the railway passengers will
  soon have access to movies, television content, music videos and audio tracks.
• The broadband streaming services will enable passengers at
  railway stations to download and view their favourite entertainment content
  from ErosNow on their smart-TVs, PCs, laptops, tablets and mobile phones.
• RailTel also launched high-speed Wi-Fi network on key
  railway stations and the passengers will be informed about this exclusive
  service on arrival at stations.
• In 2014, the Wi-Fi service was successfully launched by
  RailTel at New Delhi and Bangalore railway stations for providing high speed
  internet to passengers.

• Eminent scientist Hanumanthu Purushotham took charge as
  Chairman and Managing Director (CMD) of National Research Development
  Corporation (NRDC). He took over the charge in the fourth week of January 2015.
• Earlier, he was Scientist-G and Head of Knowledge Management
  Centre at International Advanced Research Centre for Powder Metallurgy and New
  Materials (ARCI), Department of Science and Technology at Hyderabad.
• With about 30 years of diverse experience across the
  innovation value chain in different industry verticals, he had served as
  scientist in various capacities in various CSIR laboratories of the country.

• Union Ministry of Defence on 29 January 2015 announced the
  Awards of the 2015 Republic Day Parade.
• The awards were announced by three panels of judges. The
  panels was appointed by the Defence Ministry for assessing the marching
  contingents from three Services, Para-Military Forces and tableaux from various
  States/ Ministries/Departments and School Children items from Schools of Delhi
  as well as outside Delhi.

• Services category: Brigade of Guards Regiment and Sikh
  Regiment jointly adjudged the best marching contingents in the Republic Day
  Parade 2015.
• Para-Military Forces: Central Industrial Security Force
  (CISF) contingent was awarded the best contingent.
• Tableaux Category: First position won by Maharashtra
  Tableau, which depicted Wari to Pandharpur (the pilgrimage to Pandharpur).
  While Jharkhand tableau on Maluti Temples won the second best and the third
  position went to Karnataka Tableau based on famous Channapatna Toys.

• The Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) on
  29 January 2015 received the approval to build a missile launch testing
  facility at a site adjacent to the Krishna Delta Complex in Andhra Pradesh. The
  site is a nesting site of Olive Ridley turtles, an endangered species.
• The approval was granted by the Standing Committee of the
  National Board for Wildlife chaired by Prakash Javadekar, Union Minister for
  Environment, Forest and Climate Change.

• Alexis Tsipras on 26 January 2015 was sworn in as the Prime
  Minister (PM) of Greece by President Karolos Papoulias at Maximos Mansion, the
  PM’s official residence and office. He is the head of Greece’s far-left SYRIZA
  party.
• He was sworin-in as Prime Minister after his SYRIZA party
  won 149 seats out of 300 parliamentary seats in the General Elections held in
  Greece on 25 January 2015. He fought the elections with campaign Hope is
  Coming.
• He became the first prime minister in Greek history to be
  sworn in without the traditional oath on a Bible and blessing of basil and
  water from the Greek Archbishop. He became first to take a civil rather than a
  religious oath of office.
• He also became the youngest Prime Minister of Greece since
  1865.
• It is for the first time in more than 40 years that neither
  the New Democracy party nor the center-left PASOK will be in power. The two
  forces had dominated Greek politics since the fall of military junta in 1974.

• Shirani Bandaranayake, the former Chief Justice of Sri
  Lanka, was reinstated on 28 January 2015 by Sri Lankan President Maithripala
  Sirisena on a special cabinet approval.
• With the reinstatement of Bandaranayake, the appointment of
  Mohan Peiris as Chief Justice of Sri Lanka by former President Mahinda
  Rajapaksa was cancelled and termed as illegal appointment.
• The appointment of Peiris was termed illegal because,
  according to President’s office, the Rajapaksa government had not followed the
  proper constitutional procedure. Peiris was appointed as successor of
  Bandaranayake.
• Earlier, Bandarnayake, the 43rd Chief Justice of Sri Lanka,
  was impeached and removed by the Parliament of Sri Lanka during the regime of
  former President Mahinda Rajapaksa in January 2013.

• Anti-Leprosy Day was observed on 30 January 2015 nationwide
  to focus attention on the disease which is also known as the Hansen’s disease.
  On this occasion President of India extended his best wishes to the Indian
  Leprosy Association.
• The day is celebrated in the memory of Mahatma Gandhi in
  order to re-memorize his selfless efforts and care for the people affected by
  the infectious disease leprosy.

• Ninety-year-old Zimbabwe President Robert Mugabe, one of
  Africa’s most divisive figures, ascended to the rotating chairmanship of the
  African Union on Friday.
• Mr. Mugabe, the only leader Zimbabwe has known since
  independence from Britain in 1980, assumed the largely ceremonial role at an
  African Union summit in the Ethiopian capital, Addis Ababa.

• Zhelyu Zhelev, a philosopher and communist-era dissident,
  who became Bulgaria’s first democratically elected President in 1990, died on
  Friday, his family said. He was 79.
• Zhelev was the founder and first leader of the pro-democracy
  Union of Democratic Forces after the demise of the country’s Stalinist regime
  in 1989. He served as President until 1997.

• Saina Nehwal of India on 25 January 2015 won the women’s
  singles of Syed Modi Grand Prix Gold Badminton Tournament 2015. She defeated
  World Champion Carolina Marin of Spain 19-21, 25-23, 21-16 in the finals played
  at Babu Banarasi Das Indoor Stadium in Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh.
• With this win, Saina retained her title which she had won in
  2014 and also maintained her 100 per cent win record against Carolina in three
  career meetings.
• Saina Nehwal is ranked third in the world whereas Carolina
  Marin is ranked seventh in the world.
• Apart from this, third seeded Parupalli Kashyap beat World
  Number five K Srikanth to win men’s singles of the Syed Modi Grand Prix Gold
  badminton.
• However, in the mixed doubles, Indian pair of Manu Attri and
  K Maneesha went down to top seeded Indonesian pair of Riky Widianto and Puspita
  Richi Dili 17-21, 17-21 to finish runners-up.

• Hockey Olympian Jaswant Singh Rajput died on 28 January 2015
  following a prolonged illness. He was 88.
• He was part of Indian hockey team that won gold medal in
  1948 London and 1952 Helsinki Olympics.
• He played at centre-half and left-half position and formed a
  lethal foursome with Leslie Claudius, Keshav Dutt and Meldric Daluz.
• Born in Delhi, he shifted to Kolkata to pursue his career in
  hockey and played for Bhowanipore Club. Later in 1952, he moved to Mohun Bagan
  and helped them to win the Beighton Cup.

• Australia’s former golfer Kelvin David George Nagle died on
  29 January 2015 in Sydney’s Mona Vale Hospital after battling poor health. He
  was 94.
• Born in North Sydney on 21 December 1920, Nagle was the
  winner of the British Open (the Open Championship) at St. Andrews in 1960. He
  held a record of winning 61 tournaments on the Australasian PGA tour after
  turning professional in 1946.
• He had the incredible record of winning a tournament every
  year from 1949 to 1975. Nagle’s first big win came at the 1949 Australian PGA
  championship, which he went on to win further five times.
• In November 2007, he was inducted into the World Golf Hall
  of Fame.

• Fast bowler Sean Abbott of Australia on 27 January 2015 was
  named as the Bradman Young Cricketer of the Year 2015 at the Allan Border Medal
  ceremony held in Sydney.

• Allan Border Medal: Steve Smith, Captain of Australia
• Test Player of the Year 2015: Steve Smith
• One Day International Player of the Year 2015: Steve Smith
• Twenty20 International Player of the Year 2015 – Glenn
  Maxwell
• Women’s International Cricketer of the Year (The Belinda
  Clark Award) – Southern Stars Captain Meg Lanning
• Australian Cricket Hall of Fame – Adam Gilchrist and late
  Victorian all-rounder Jack Ryder
• Steve Smith became third player to win all the three awards
  namely Allan Border Medal, Test and ODI player of the year award after Ricky
  Ponting and Shane Watson.

• International Cricket Council (ICC) in its board meeting in
  Dubai on 29 January 2015 announced that India will host the Twenty20 World Cup
  in 2016. The Twenty20 World Cup will be held in India from 11 March 2016 to 3
  April 2016.
• The meeting was chaired by N Srinivasan in the presence of
  all the full-member and associate representatives.

• Reinstatement of the use of a Super Over in the event of a
  tie in the ICC Cricket World Cup 2015 final.
• Approved changes in ICC Code of Conduct offences relating to
  slow over-rates in ICC events so that captains do not carry any prior minor
  over-rate offence strikes or over-rate suspensions from other series into an
  ICC event.
• Any over-rate strikes incurred prior to the ICC Cricket
  World Cup 2015 will be carried forward to the first bilateral series after the
  event.
• The 2017 Champions Trophy will be hosted by England from 1
  June to 19 June 2017 The 2017 Women’s World Cup will be held in England from 4
  August 2017 to 27 August 2017.
• The 2018 Women’s Twenty20 World Cup will be organised in the
  West Indies from 2 November to 25 November 2018.
• England will host the 50-over World Cup in 2019 from 30 May
  to 15 June 2019.

• International Cricket Council (ICC) on 29 January 2015
  lifted the five-year ban imposed on Pakistan’s fast bowler Mohammad Amir. With
  this, Amir can now play in domestic cricket under the auspices of the Pakistan
  Cricket Board with immediate effect. 
• This decision to lift the five-year ban, which was due to
  end on 2 September 2015, was taken during two-day board meeting of ICC in
  Dubai.
• The decision to lift the ban was taken after Sir Ronnie
  Flanagan, the Chairman of Anti-Corruption and Security Unit (ACSU) exercised
  his discretion to allow Mohammad Amir to return to domestic cricket.
• He exercised his discretion under Article 6.8 of the ICC
  Anti-Corruption Code with prior approval of the ICC Board and the Pakistan
  Cricket Board.