Current Affairs Update – 2nd August, 2015

Hello and welcome to ExamPundit. Here are the Important Current Affairs of 2nd August, 2015. These are Important for IBPS RRB 2015 Exam.

Finance/Economy
Food Corporation gets
Rs 13,000 cr as food subsidy from govt

  • To ensure smooth procurement and distribution of grains, the
    government has released Rs 13,000 crore as food subsidy to state-owned Food
    Corporation of India (FCI).
  • The corporation is facing a subsidy arrear of above Rs 55,000
    crore as of March 31, 2015.
  • For 2015-16, the government has allocated Rs 97,000 crore as
    food subsidy to FCI against an estimated bill of Rs 1,18,000 crore.
  • In 2014-15, the government had allocated Rs 92,000 crore as
    food subsidy, out of which Rs 91,995.35 crore was given to FCI. The subsidy
    incurred in the year was Rs 1,02,476 crore.
  • The bulk of the food subsidy is paid to FCI for running the
    public distribution system (PDS).
  • Besides, FCI also has a cash credit limit of Rs 54,495 crore
    with a consortium of 67 banks at a rate of 10.51 per cent. In addition to this,
    the corporation can also raise short-term loan of up to Rs 30,000 crore by
    inviting tenders from banks.

Govt announces
highway projects worth $93 bn to woo investors

  • Projecting the country’s highways sector as a “unique
    opportunity” for investments, the government has rolled out projects worth
    $93 billion, including the $45 billion flagship road building programme, the
    National Highways Building Project (NHDP).
  • Investment opportunities include “new models being
    rolled out both for greenfield (hybrid annuity) and brownfield projects
    (monetisation),” according to the Road Transport and Highways Ministry,
    which has come out with a list of such projects.
  • To woo bidders, it said a “peep into opportunity”
    unfolds “20,000 kms of NHDP length with total investment of $45 billion
    over the next three years.”
  • Among the largest government-led PPP development programmes
    in the world, the NHDP envisages the development of 20,000 kms of existing
    National Highways (NHs) into world-class roads in different phases.
  • The government, releasing a document on the highways sector,
    said the opportunities comprise the “Bharat Mala project of $12 billion
    for 6,000 kms,” a scheme for providing connectivity to 123 district
    headquarters for $15 billion and the construction of 350 bridges/ROBs in two
    years for $8 billion.
  • Besides, it includes ‘Char Dham’ connectivity for 2,500 kms
    in mountainous terrains for $8 billion and a “strong network of roads in
    the North-East and Border areas for $5 billion.”

India’s gold imports
increased by 61% in April-May

  • India’s gold imports increased by about 61% to 155 tonnes in
    the first two months of the current fiscal mainly due to weak global prices and
    the easing of restrictions by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI).
  • In the international market, gold has been trading weak over
    the past few months. On Friday, it closed at $1,095 in the New York market.
  • Large imports of gold impact the country’s current account
    deficit, which occurs when the value of the import of goods and services is
    more than its exports. The CAD in 2014-15 shrank to 1.3% of GDP from 1.7% in
    2013-14.
  • The RBI and the government have maintained that the CAD
    level is comfortable.
  • In 2014-15, India imported 915.54 tonnes of gold as against
    661.71 tonnes in the previous financial year.

Sports
Indian women bag
silver at World Archery Championships
  • Indian women’s recurve team squandered a two-set lead and
    went down to top seed Russians in the shoot-off to bag a silver medal at the
    World Archery Championships, here today.
  • The trio of Deepika Kumari, Laxmirani Majhi and Rimil
    Buriuly put pressure on the Russians opening up a 4-0 lead but could not wrap
    the issue as they lost the next two sets before going down in the shoot-off
    27-28.
  • India thus picked their second silver in the ongoing World
    Archery Championships where compound archer Rajat Chauhan opened the account
    with a historic individual medal yesterday.
  • This is India’s best ever show in the World Archery
    Championships where they are in hunt for a third medal, and a double for
    Laxmirani who will fight for a bronze in the individual recurve section later
    in the day.

South Sudan becomes
Olympic movement’s 206th member

  • South Sudan became the 206th member of the Olympic family on
    Friday after the International Olympic Committee approved its inclusion,
    despite ongoing fighting in the African country.
  • The unanimous recognition of the country’s Olympic Committee
    drew a loud round of applause from the IOC members with South Sudanese
    officials visibly moved and some in tears.
  • Thousands have been killed and more than 2.2 million
    displaced since fighting broke out in December 2013 between President Salva
    Kiir’s government and rebels commanded by Riek Machar.
  • Both sides have been accused of human rights abuses and
    indiscriminate killings, which have often been carried out along ethnic lines,
    with Machar’s Nuers pitted against Kiir’s powerful Dinkas.
  • South Sudan’s marathon runner Guor Marial competed at the
    London 2012 Olympics but did so under the Olympic flag after refusing to run
    for Sudan and with South Sudan not yet an IOC member at the time.

Obituaries
Private equity pioneer
Jerome Kohlberg dead
  • Jerome Kohlberg Jr., a founder of investment firm Kohlberg
    Kravis Roberts & Co and a pioneer of the leveraged buyout, died on Thursday
    at his home in Martha’s Vineyard, Massachusetts, aged 90.
  • Kohlberg began working at investment bank Bear Stearns &
    Co in 1955, where he mentored younger colleagues Henry Kravis and George
    Roberts. The three formed their own firm, KKR, in 1976.
  • It is best known for taking over tobacco and food
    conglomerate RJR Nabisco, chronicled in the book Barbarians at the Gate: the
    Fall of RJR Nabisco, a deal that heralded an industry of large, often hostile,
    corporate.

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This post was last modified on July 20, 2019 10:17 am