Current Affairs Update – 2nd June, 2015

• RBI today announced the second  bi-monthly monetary policy.

• Short—term lending rate (repo) cut by 0.25 per cent to 7.25 per
  cent
• Cash Reserve Ratio unchanged at 4 per cent
• Statutory Liquidity Ratio retained at 21.5 per cent
• Inflation expected to rise to 6 per cent by January 2016
• Strong food policy management needed to keep inflation and
  inflationary expectations under check
• Growth forecast lowered to 7.6 per cent for 2015-16 from 7.8
  per cent projected in April
• Banks asked to pass on benefit of rate cuts to borrowers
• Targeted infusion of bank capital into PSU banks needed to
  ensure credit flows to productive sectors

• Current account deficit is estimated to be around 1.5 per
  cent of the GDP in the current fiscal, helped by sharp fall in oil prices even
  as gold imports rose in the past few months, the Reserve Bank said today.
• Gold imports spiked in the month of March and remained
  elevated in April owing to regulatory relaxations and festival demand, the
  central bank said.
• In the first half of the 2014-15 fiscal, CAD was at 1.9 per
  cent of the GDP (USD 18 billion).
• The CAD, which is the difference between the inflow and
  outflow of foreign exchange, was 1.7 per cent of GDP (USD 32.4 billion) in
  2013-14.
• India’s merchandise export growth weakened steadily since
  July 2014 and entered into contraction from January through April 2015.

• The Reserve Bank today lowered the economic growth forecast
  for the current fiscal to 7.6 per cent from 7.8 per cent projected in April,
  citing various risks, including poor monsoon and rising crude oil prices.
• CSO (Central Statistics Office) has come out with GVA to
  measure economic growth.
• Real GVA, that is GVA at basic constant prices (2011-12) in
  2014-15 is now estimated at Rs 98.27 lakh crore (as against Rs 98.58 lakh crore
  estimated earlier on February 9, 2015), showing a growth rate of 7.2 per cent
  (as against 7.5 per cent estimated earlier).
• Talking about the risks, Rajan, while unveiling second
  bi-monthly monetary policy review said, some forecasters, notably the IMD,
  predict a below-normal southwest monsoon putting pressure on food inflation.

• The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on 1 June 2015 allowed cross
  holding in long-term infrastructure bonds.
• With this, now banks would be able to cross hold these bonds
  among themselves for financing infrastructure and affordable housing loans, which
  earlier was not permitted.
• The move was taken amidst the concerns that such prohibition
  on cross-holding was inhibiting the liquidity and tradability of these bonds,
  as banks are the major participants in the debt market.

1. Banks cannot hold their own bonds.
2. Banks’ investment in such bonds will not be treated as
   assets with the banking system in India for the purpose of calculation of Net
   Demand and Time Liability (NDTL).
3. Such investments will not be held under Held to Maturity
   (HTM) category.
4. An investing bank’s investment in a specific issue of such
   bonds will be capped at 2 percent of the investing bank’s Tier 1 Capital or at
   5 percent of the issue size, whichever is lower.
5. An investing bank’s aggregate holding in such bonds will be
   capped at 10 percent of its total Non-SLR investments.
6. Not more than 20 percent of the primary issue size of such
   bond issuance can be allotted to banks.

• Maharashtra continued to dominate the mutual fund landscape
  in the country with an assets base of Rs 1.21 lakh crore at the end of April in
  equity-oriented schemes, followed by Delhi in the second place.
• A big share of mutual fund presence originates from
  Maharashtra because the state houses the headquarters of most of the large
  companies, thereby getting a bulk of investments through non-retail or institutional
  routes, experts noted.
• In terms of state-wise equity assets, Maharashtra led with
  Rs 1.21 lakh crore, taking up a 35 per cent share of the market, as per the data
  compiled by Prime Database.
• Delhi followed, though far behind, with Rs 28,058 crore and
  Karnataka with Rs 27,625 crore. Further, Gujarat has an assets base of Rs
  25,402 crore in equity-oriented schemes, while the same for West Bengal was at
  Rs 21,189 crore.

• Cult bike maker Harley-Davidson has tied up with fashion
  portal Myntra to sell its casual merchandise through an exclusive online store.
• Launched today, the online store offers a range of casual
  outerwear, sportswear, denims and accessories, Harley-Davidson said in a
  statement.
• Harley-Davidson merchandise and accessories are also offered
  through the brand’s dealership network across 17 locations in India.
• Harley-Davidson Sales and Dealer Development Director Rajiv
  Vohra said the alliance will help the company reach out to more customers
  across the country.

• India and Sweden on 1 June 2015 signed 6 agreements to boost
  ties and restart the bilateral strategic dialogue. The agreements were inked in
  presence of President Pranab Mukherjee, who is on a state visit to Sweden.
• Mukherjee is the first ever Indian head of state to visit
  Sweden and will be in the country from 31 May to 2 June 2015.

1. MoU on Cooperation in the field of Sustainable Urban
   Development
2. MoU on cooperation in the field of Micro, Small and Medium
   Enterprises
3. Agreement on Visa Exemption for diplomatic passports
4. Letter of Intent on Collaboration in Polar and Ocean
   Research
5. Memorandum of Intent (MoI) on cooperation in ageing research
   and health: It was signed between the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR)
   and the Swedish Research Council for Health Working Life and Welfare (FORTE).
6. MoI between the Central Drugs Standard Control Organization
   (CDSCO), India and the Swedish Medical Products Agency (MPA)

• Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu today

  launched ‘Nav Nirman Deeksha’, marking the division of the state last year.

• The week-long statewide ‘Nav Nirman Deeksha’ will be held
  each year from June 2.
• Under the programme, people across the state are taking oath
  for reconstruction of the state and to work towards its development.
• The programme is being held at government offices and public
  places.
• The chief minister in his address said ‘Nav Nirman Deeksha’
  is not against Telangana and exhorted that Telugu people living in the two
  states need to be united and work together for the comprehensive development of
  the two states.

• K Sivan on June 1 2015 appointed as the Director of the
  Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre (VSSC), of Indian Space Research Organisation in
  Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala.
• He took the charge on the day of his appointment and
  succeded M Chandradathan, who superannuated in May 2015.
• Before this appointment, he was the Distinguished Scientist
  and Director at Liquid Propulsion Systems Centre (LPSC), Thiruvananthapuram.
• He is the chief architect of 6D trajectory simulation
  software SITARA which is the backbone of the real time and non real time
  trajectory simulations of all ISRO launch vehicles.

• Rear Admiral Philipose G Pynumootil has taken over as
  Assistant Chief of Naval Staff (Air) on June 1, 2015.
• An alumnus of the Lawrence School, Lovedale and the National
  Defence Academy (67th course), he was commissioned in the Indian Navy on
  January 1, 1986, a navy release said.
• The ACNS (Air) is responsible for all the staff functions of
  the Air Arm of the Navy.
• The Flag Officer has undergone the staff course at the DSSC,
  Wellington, Tamil Nadu and the higher Air Command course at the College of Air
  Warfare, Hyderabad.

• P. Kunhikrishnan has been appointed the Director of Satish
  Dhawan Space Centre (SDSC), Sriharikota, from where the launch vehicles of the
  Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) lift off. He took charge on June 1,
  2015 from M.Y.S. Prasad, who retired.
• Mr. Kunhikrishnan was till now with the Vikram Sarabhai
  Space Centre (VSSC), Thiruvananthapuram, as the Deputy Director for Mechanisms,
  Vehicle Integration and Testing Entity.
• He led 13 Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV) missions as
  their Mission Director after he assumed charge as the Project Director of the
  PSLV in June 2010 and all these PSLV missions were successful.
• Most of these PSLVs put multiple satellites into orbit. The
  PSLV-C25, of which he was the Mission Director, put India’s spacecraft to Mars
  into a perfect initial orbit in November 2013.

• Former India captain Ravi Shastri was named as the interim
  national coach for the upcoming tour to Bangladesh, on Tuesday.
• The veteran cricketer had previously served as Team Director
  since August of last year and till the end of the World Cup 2015 when his
  contract expired.
• Shastri will travel to Bangladesh with the national
  cricketers, who arrive in Kolkata on June 5 and thereafter depart for
  Bangladesh for the three ODIs and a solitary Test.
• In the other support staff appointments, Sanjay Bangar and
  Bharat Arun will continue to serve as the batting and bowling coaches
  respectively.

Regards

Team ExamPundit

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