Current Affairs Update – 30th March, 2016

Hello and welcome to ExamPundit. Here are the important Current Affairs of 30 March, 2016. These are very important for the upcoming NABARD Assistant Manager exam.
Current
Affairs at a Glance – 30th March, 2016
  1. Union Minister for Minority
    Affairs Najma Heptulla on 29 March 2016 launched innovative entrepreneurship and
    skill development programme of Maulana
    Azad National Academy for Skills (MANAS)
    through leading national and
    international experts in different skill sets.
  2. Tata Motors today signed a
    memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the Maharashtra Ex-Servicemen
    Corporation or MESCO,
    for creation of employment opportunities for
    ex-servicemen of Indian Army.
  3. The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on Wednesday allowed all companies engaged in
    the infrastructure sector to raise external commercial borrowings with a
    minimum maturity of five years
    , including those non-banking finance
    companies (NBFC) regulated by the central bank.
  4. Markets regulator, the
    Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) on 29 March 2016 decided to
    increase the Foreign Portfolio Investors (FPI) investment limit in Central
    Government securities
    . This will boost inflows of foreign funds into
    Indian capital markets.
  5. The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on 29 March 2016 signed a Special
    Currency Swap Agreement with the Central Bank of Sri Lanka
    .
  6. State-run power equipment maker BHEL
    has commissioned first 250 Mw unit at coal-based Nabinagar thermal power plant

    of Bhartiya Rail Bijlee Company Ltd in Aurangabad district of Bihar.
  7. The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on 29 March 2016 cancelled
    the certificate of registration of the 22 Non-Banking Financial Companies
    (NBFCs)
    .
  8. The Government of India and the World Bank today signed
    a US$1.5 billion loan agreement for the Swachh Bharat Mission (SBM) Support
    Operation Project to support the Government of India
    in its efforts to
    ensure that all citizens in the rural areas have access to improved sanitation
    with a focus on changing behaviour and eliminating the practice of open
    defecation by 2019.
  9. Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) is set to launch a record
    number of 22 satellites in a single
    mission
    in May 2016.
    The launch vehicle will inject 22 satellites into orbit, a
    first in the history of the organisation.
    Polar Satellite Launch
    Vehicle, PSLV C34 will carry India’s remote sensing satellite Cartosat 2C along with 21 other satellites to be injected into the orbit.
  10. India will establish the first
    Indian chair in the Arab world at Egypt’s prestigious Ain Shams University
    (ASU) here.
  11. The Chief Minister of Haryana
    Manohar Lal Khattar on 29 March 2016 launched Project Salamati in Chandigarh.
    The project seeks to maintain a healthy balance between the births of children
    by using injectable contraceptive.
  12. Htin Kyaw sworn in as Myanmar President
  13. Country’s third largest software
    services firm Wipro today said it
    has roped in financial and business strategist Patrick Dupuis as an
    independent Board member.
  14. Market regulator Sebi today approved appointment of Mrugank Paranjape as MD & CEO of
    the Multi Commodity Exchange of India (MCX)
    .
  15. Renowned playback singer P. Susheela
    Mohan in the last week of March 2016
    entered
    the Guinness Book of Records for singing 17695 songs in 12 Indian languages
    .
  16. China on 30 March 2016 launched its 22nd satellite for its BeiDou Navigation Satellite System (BDS).

Finance/Banking/Economy –
Union Government launched Innovative Entrepreneurship & Skill
Development Programme of MANAS

  • Union Minister for Minority
    Affairs Najma Heptulla on 29 March 2016 launched innovative entrepreneurship
    and skill development programme of Maulana Azad National Academy for Skills
    (MANAS) through leading national and international experts in different skill
    sets.
  • The innovative Scheme proposes to
    use leading celebrities who belong to Minority communities in various skill
    sets as the driving force behind the skill development projects in their
    respective fields.
  • It is for the benefit of
    marginalised sections of minority communities.
  • It was established under the
    aegis of Ministry of Minority Affairs (MOMA) by National Minorities Development
    and Finance Corporation (NMDFC) on 11 November, 2014 to fulfil the vision of
    Skill India and also achieve the over-riding goal of the Union Government
    SabkaSaath – SabkaVikas.
Tata Motors signs pact with Maharashtra ex-servicemen body

  • Tata Motors today signed a
    memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the Maharashtra Ex-Servicemen
    Corporation or MESCO), for creation of employment opportunities for
    ex-servicemen of Indian Army. This is in response to Tata Motors solution for
    the Defence Ministry’s prestigious $10 billion combat vehicle programme.
  • As one of the indigenisation
    partners for the development of Tata Motors FICV (Future Infantry Combat
    Vehicle), the MoU was signed at the ongoing DefExpo 2016 in Goa.
  • MESCO, a Maharashtra government
    undertaking, of the Mahasainik Industrial Estate (MSIE), is India’s first
    unique ex-servicemen industrial estate set-up in Pune in 2002, for the
    establishment and resettlement of ex-servicemen, with the moto of ‘Service with
    Discipline’.
  • Tata Motors recently also signed
    a strategic agreement with Bharat Forge Limited (BFL) and General Dynamics Land
    Systems (GDLS) of the US, for the Defence Ministry’s prestigious Future
    Infantry Combat Vehicle (FICV) program.
RBI liberalises ECB norms for infrastructure space

  • The Reserve Bank of India (RBI)
    on Wednesday allowed all companies engaged in the infrastructure sector to
    raise external commercial borrowings with a minimum maturity of five years,
    including those non-banking finance companies (NBFC) regulated by the central
    bank.
  • The borrowings have to be fully
    hedged, the central bank clarified in a notification on its website. The
    individual limit of borrowing under the automatic route is currently at $750
    million.
  • RBI expanded the scope of ECB in
    view of prevailing external funding sources, “particularly for long-term
    lending and the critical needs of infrastructure sector of the country.”
  • Expanding the scope of the
    definition of infrastructure, RBI said exploration, mining and refinery sectors
    will also be deemed as in the infrastructure sector, and can access ECB as
    applicable to infrastructure sector.
SEBI hiked FPI investment limit for government debt

  • Markets regulator, the Securities
    and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) on 29 March 2016 decided to increase the
    Foreign Portfolio Investors (FPI) investment limit in Central Government
    securities. This will boost inflows of foreign funds into Indian capital
    markets.
  • The limit was increased to 140000
    crore rupees from 135400 crore rupees and will be effective from 4 April 2016.
    It will be further increased to 144000 crore rupees from 5 July 2016.
  • There will be a separate limit
    for investment by all FPIs in the state development loans.
  • The limit for long term FPIs
    (Sovereign Wealth Funds, Multilateral Agencies, Endowment Funds, Insurance
    Funds, Pension Funds and Foreign Central Banks) in the Central Government
    securities will be enhanced to 50000 crore rupees from 4 April 2016 and 56000
    crore rupees on 5 July 2016. Currently, the existing limit is 44100 crore
    rupees for long term FPIs.
  • The limit for investment by all
    FPIs in State Development Loans (SDL) was enhanced to 10500 crore rupees on 4
    April 2016 and 14000 crore rupees on 5 July 2016 respectively from the existing
    limit of 7000 crore rupees.
RBI signed Special Currency Swap Agreement with the Central Bank of Sri
Lanka
  • The Reserve Bank of India (RBI)
    on 29 March 2016 signed a Special Currency Swap Agreement with the Central Bank
    of Sri Lanka.
  • Under the arrangement, the
    Central Bank of Sri Lanka can draw up to 700 million US dollars for a maximum
    period of three months. This special arrangement is in addition to the existing
    Framework on Currency Swap Arrangement for the SAARC Member Countries.
  • The proposal to extend the
    additional currency swap facility of 700 million US dollars to Sri Lanka for a
    limited period was decided with concurrence of the Union Government in March
    2016 for short-term liquidity management in the context of India’s strong
    bilateral relations and economic ties with Sri Lanka.
BHEL commissions 250 Mw unit at Nabinagar plant in Bihar
  • State-run power equipment maker
    BHEL has commissioned first 250 Mw unit at coal-based Nabinagar thermal power
    plant of Bhartiya Rail Bijlee Company Ltd in Aurangabad district of Bihar.
  • “The 250 MW unit has been
    commissioned at the upcoming, greenfield 1,000 Mw Nabinagar Thermal Power
    Project (4×250 MW), being set up by Bhartiya Rail Bijlee Company Ltd (BRBCL), a
    joint venture of NTPC Limited and the Indian Railways,” BHEL said in a
    statement on Wednesday.
  • Execution of the other three
    units is also in progress, it added.
  • BHEL has a long-standing
    partnership with NTPC and has supplied over 30,000 Mw of the coal-based power
    plants of NTPC and its JVs that account for around 80 per cent of NTPC’s
    coal-based installed capacity.
RBI cancelled Certificate of Registration of 22 NBFCs
  • The Reserve Bank of India (RBI)
    on 29 March 2016 cancelled the certificate of registration of the 22
    Non-Banking Financial Companies (NBFCs).
  • RBI cancelled their certificates
    of registration by exercising the powers conferred on it under Section 45-IA
    (6) of the Reserve Bank of India Act, 1934.
The NBFCs whose certificate of registration were cancelled include
  1. Kundan Leasing and Finvest
    Private Limited
  2. Amazan Capital Limited
  3. Vuma Maheswara Finvest Limited
  4. Nawalsons Holdings Private
    Limited
  5. Raseera Investments Private
    Limited
  6. Surin Investments Private Limited
  7. M3 Investment Managers Private
    Limited
  8. Mascot Commerce Pvt. Ltd.
  9. Integrity Trading Company Private
    Limited
  10. Limtex Impex Private Limited
  11. Shyamashree Foods Pvt. Ltd.
  12. Vrindavan Services Private Ltd.
  13. Nirankar Investments Private
    Limited
  14. Dignity Motors Finance Limited
  15. Credence Securities Private
    Limited
  16. International Steel Industries
    Limited (Formerly Chitalia Infotech (I) Ltd.)
  17. Trepechy Textile Limited
    (Formerly Trepechy Finance Limited)
  18. Akansha Consultancy Services
    Limited
  19. Sierra Investments Limited
  20. Priyam Commercial Enterprises
    Private Limited
  21. Bini Commercial Enterprises
    Private Limited
  22. RR Securities Limited
Following the cancellation of
registration certificate, these companies cannot transact the business of a
non-banking financial institution as laid down under clause (a) of Section 45-I
of the Reserve Bank of India Act, 1934.
India –
India, World Bank sign
USD 1.5 billion loan pact for Swachh Bharat Mission

  • The Government of India and the
    World Bank today signed a US$1.5 billion loan agreement for the Swachh Bharat
    Mission (SBM) Support Operation Project to support the Government of India in
    its efforts to ensure that all citizens in the rural areas have access to
    improved sanitation with a focus on changing behaviour and eliminating the
    practice of open defecation by 2019.
  • The loan agreement for the
    project was signed by Raj Kumar, Joint Secretary, Department of Economic
    Affairs, Ministry of Finance on behalf of the Government of India and Onno
    Ruhl, World Bank Country Director, India on behalf of the World Bank.
  • Specifically, this project will
    support the rural component, known as SBM – Gramin (SBM-G), over a five-year
    period using a new performance-based program which links funds directly to
    results, ensuring that benefits are delivered to the people in need – more than
    60 percent of India’s population that resides in rural areas.
ISRO to launch 22 satellites in single mission

  • Indian Space Research
    Organization (ISRO) is set to launch a record number of 22 satellites in a
    single mission in May 2016.
  • The launch vehicle will inject 22
    satellites into orbit, a first in the history of the organisation.
  • Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle,
    PSLV C34 will carry India’s remote sensing satellite Cartosat 2C along with 21
    other satellites to be injected into the orbit.
  • The 21 satellites to be launched
    will include four micro-satellites weighing 85 to 130 kg each and 17 nano-satellites
    weighing 4 to 30 kg. 18 of these satellites are being launched for foreign
    agencies including the United States, Canada, Germany and Indonesia. Two of the
    nano-satellites have been developed by the Pune Engineering College and
    Sathyabama University, Chennai.
The four micro-satellites to be launched are:
  • Maritime Monitoring and Messaging
    Microsatellite (M3MSAT)
  • LAPAN A3
  • BIROS
  • SKYSAT Gen2-1
ICCR to set up first Indian Chair in Arab world at Cairo
  • India will establish the first
    Indian chair in the Arab world at Egypt’s prestigious Ain Shams University
    (ASU) here.
  • An MoU in this regard was signed
    on Wednesday between India’s Ambassador to Egypt Sanjay Bhattacharyya on behalf
    of Indian Council for Cultural Relations (ICCR) and and Prof. Abdel Wahab Ezzat,
    Acting President of ASU.
  • Under the terms of agreement,
    ICCR, in consultation with ASU, will appoint an Indian academician to hold the
    Chair.
  • Taking note of the technological
    advancements in India and the growing demand in Egypt, the first visiting
    Indian Professor will be in the Faculty of Information and Communication
    Technology.
  • Founded in 1950, ASU is the third
    largest Egyptian university.
Haryana launched Projecet Salamati for injectable contraceptive

  • The Chief Minister of Haryana
    Manohar Lal Khattar on 29 March 2016 launched Project Salamati in Chandigarh.
    The project seeks to maintain a healthy balance between the births of children
    by using injectable contraceptive.
  • With this launch, Haryana became
    the first State in the country to launch injectable contraceptive as part of a
    government initiative.
  • It is a public sector family
    planning programme implemented by the Haryana Health Department with the
    assistance of Pathfinder International and the Bill & Melinda Gates
    Foundation.
  • Under this initiative, injectable
    contraceptive will be provided free of cost at all Primary Health Centres,
    Community Health Centres, Sub Divisional and District Hospitals.
IIT-Patna organised First International Symposium on 5G
  • The Indian Institute of
    Technology Patna (IIT-P) organised the First International Symposium on Fifth
    Generation (5G) technology. The symposium commenced on 29 March 2016 and will
    conclude on 31 March 2016 in Patna.
  • The Patna 5G Summit is
    co-sponsored by IEEE Communications Society, Center for TeleInfrastruktur,
    Aalborg University (CTIF), Global ICT Standardization Forum for India (GISFI)
    and IEEE Kolkata Section.
  • The aim of the symposium is to
    bring academia, industry, government organizations etc. to participate and
    share their research intuition and views over the possible 5G technologies,
    standardization aspects, heterogeneous networks, architectural designs,
    wireless techniques and new hardware designs.
Appointments –
Htin Kyaw sworn in as Myanmar President

  • Htin Kyaw, a confidante of Nobel
    laureate Aung San Suu Kyi, was sworn in Wednesday as Myanmar’s President,
    ushering in the first democratically elected government into office after
    decades of military rule.
  • The 70-year-old Htin Kyaw took
    the oath of office in a joint session of Myanmar’s newly elected Parliament
    with his two Vice- Presidents at his side, as Ms. Suu Kyi sat watched from the
    front row.
Wipro appoints PayPal executive Patrick Dupuis to Board

  • Country’s third largest software
    services firm Wipro today said it has roped in financial and business
    strategist Patrick Dupuis as an independent Board member.
  • With effect from April 1, 2016,
    Dupuis will serve as an Independent Director on the Board and brings with him a
    rich experience of over 30 years, Wipro said in a statement.
  • He is currently Senior Vice
    President for Simplicity, Quality and Productivity at Global technology
    platform and payments leader, PayPal Holdings, Inc, it added.
Rakesh Mohan joined Nestle India Board as Independent Non—Executive
Director
  • Nestle India Ltd. on 28 March
    2016 announced that former RBI Deputy Governor Rakesh Mohan joined the Board of
    the company as an Independent Non—Executive Director.
  • His appointment will be effective
    from 1 May 2016. For Rakesh Mohan, this is the second stint at the company.
Sebi approves Mrugank Paranjape as MCX managing director

  • Market regulator Sebi today
    approved appointment of Mrugank Paranjape as MD & CEO of the Multi
    Commodity Exchange of India (MCX).
  • According to posting by MCX to
    BSE, this appointment is for a period of three years from the date of joining.
  • Sebi has also granted extension
    of the terms of Dinesh Kumar Mehrotra, G. Anantharaman and Satyananda Mishra as
    Public Interest Director (PID) on the board of MCX.
  • As a result their terms will end
    in July, October and November respectively. Mishra is chairman of the board.
Awards & Honors –
P Susheela entered Guinness World Records for recording highest number
of songs in several languages

  • Renowned playback singer P.
    Susheela Mohan in the last week of March 2016 entered the Guinness Book of
    Records for singing 17695 songs in 12 Indian languages.
  • On the other hand, Asia Book of
    Records also officially recognised Susheela for singing most number of songs in
    Indian languages.
  • While the Guinness Book of
    Records officially credited her for singing 17695 songs (solo, duet and chorus
    backed songs) in twelve Indian languages, Asia Book of Records recognised her
    for singing 17330 songs.
World –
China launched 22nd BeiDou navigation satellite

  • China on 30 March 2016 launched
    its 22nd satellite for its BeiDou Navigation Satellite System (BDS). The
    satellite was launched aboard a Long March-3A carrier rocket from the Xichang
    Satellite Launch Center in the southwestern province of Sichuan.
  • The BeiDou system will be
    completed in 2020 and will comprise over 30 satellites.
  • It was the 225th launch of the
    Long March carrier rocket.
  • BeiDou currently provides
    navigation services within China and the neighboring regions. After entering
    its designated work orbit and finishing in-orbit testing, it will join others
    available in the orbit.
Obituaries –
Renowned American author Jim Harrison died
  • Fiction writer, poet and
    essayist, Jim Harrison passed away on 26 March 2016 due to cardiac arrest in
    Patagonia, Arizona, United States. He was 78.
  • Harrison is best known for his
    1979 novella Legends of the Fall. He was called a force of nature, and his
    works were compared to that of William Faulkner and Ernest Hemingway.



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This post was last modified on July 20, 2019 10:16 am