Current Affairs Update – 31st August, 2016

• Indian economy grew at the
  slowest pace in last six quarters at 7.1 per cent in the April-June period of
  current fiscal mainly on subdued performance of mining, construction and farm
  sectors.
• GDP had recorded 7.5 per cent growth
  in the April-June quarter of last fiscal and 7.9 per cent in January-March
  quarter. The previous low was 6.6 per cent GDP growth in the October-December
  quarter of the 2014-15 fiscal.
• According to the data released by
  the Central Statistics Office (CSO), the Gross Value Added (GVA), which is
  estimated at the base price, showed a growth of 7.3 per cent in the first
  quarter of 2016-17.
• The Gross Domestic Product (GDP)
  growth data is calculated under the new methodology at market price, while GVA
  is calculated primarily at factor cost. GDP is GVA plus taxes on products minus
  subsidies on them.
• The economic activities which
  registered growth of over 7 per cent in the April-June quarter, over year-ago
  period, are manufacturing; electricity, gas, water supply & other utility
  services; trade, hotels, transport & communication and services related to
  broadcasting; financial, insurance, real estate and professional services and
  public administration, defence and other services.
• Growth in agriculture; forestry
  and fishing; mining & quarrying and construction is estimated to be 1.8 per
  cent, (-) 0.4 per cent, and 1.5 per cent respectively.

• National Payments Corporation of
  India (NPCI), the umbrella organisation for all retail payments system in
  India, has launched a pilot project for Bharat Bill Payment System (BBPS) with
  26 Bharat Bill Payment Operating Units (BBPOUs).
• In the first phase, BBPS will
  cover repetitive payments for everyday utility services such as electricity,
  water, gas, telephone and Direct-to-Home (DTH).
• BBPS is the Reserve Bank of India
  (RBI) mandated system which will provide interoperable bill payment services to
  customers. It is an integrated platform connecting banks and non-bank entities
  in bill aggregation business like billers, payment service providers, retail
  bill outlets etc.
• As on date, 62 entities have
  received in-principle approval from RBI to function as Operating Units (OU),
  out of which 52 are banking entities and 10 are non-banking entities.
• NPCI functions as the authorised
  Bharat Bill Payment Central Unit (BBPCU). It will undertake clearing and
  settlement activities related to transactions routed through BBPS.
• The RBI authorised BBPOUs will
  on-board billers, aggregators and payment gateways. They would also set up
  agent network and customer touch points to handle bill payments through
  different delivery channels including self-service, assisted, electronic and
  manual modes.
• Banking sector participants in
  BPPS pilot include AP Mahesh Co-operative Urban Bank, Axis Bank, HDFC Bank,
  ICICI Bank, IDBI Bank, Indian Bank, Punjab National Bank, State Bank of India,
  The Saraswat Co-Op Bank.
• Non-Bank participants in BPPS
  pilot include Avenues India Pvt. Ltd, Common Service Centre, Euronet Services
  India Pvt. Ltd, IndiaIdeas.com (Billdesk), ITZ Cash Card Ltd, One97
  Communications Ltd (Paytm), Oxigen Services India Pvt. Ltd.

• Credit Analysis and Research Ltd
  (CARE Ratings) today said it has signed agreements with two companies to set up
  a credit rating agency in Nepal.
• As per the MoU, CARE Ratings will
  hold 51 per cent equity worth Rs 2 crore while Vishal Group will own 19 per
  cent and Emerging Nepal 10 per cent.
• The balance 20 per cent would be
  held by banks, Insurancecompanies, FIs and corporate bodies in Nepal subject to
  a maximum of 9 per cent legal entity, it added.
• Vishal Group is a public limited
  company in financial services. Emerging Nepalis a company engaged in venture
  capital activities.
• The rating agency has started
  CARE Ratings Africain 2015, and it also partnered with ARC Ratings as part of
  its global ambition.

• Jharkhand is the first state in
  the country to have implemented Public Fund Management System (PFMS), an official
  release said here today.
• Development Commissioner Amit
  Khare said Union Finance Secretary Ashok Lavasa appreciated the implementation
  of Jharkhand’s public fund management system.
• Lavasa’s appreciation came during
  a video conference with finance secretaries from all states, it said.
• Khare told Lavasa that all the 32
  treasuries across Jharkhand were computerised and cyber treasury was established,
  the release added.

• Sony Pictures Networks India
  (SPN) today announced that SPN and its affiliates have entered into definitive
  agreements to acquire TEN Sports Network from Zee Entertainment Enterprises Ltd
  (ZEE) and its subsidiaries for $385 million (Rs 2,600 crore).
• The completion of the acquisition
  is subject to regulatory approval.
• The acquisition will add South
  Asia’s leading sports network to SPN’s existing portfolio of channels.
• The TEN Sports channels being
  acquired include TEN 1, TEN 1 HD, TEN 2, TEN 3, TEN Golf HD, TEN Cricket, and
  TEN Sports that operate in several countries, including the Indian
  sub-continent, Maldives, Singapore, Hong Kong, West Asia and Caribbean.
• TEN Sports holds broadcast rights
  to major cricket boards (South Africa, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, West Indies and
  Zimbabwe).

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• Extending the Prime Minister’s
  Digital India vision, the Government of Goa on Tuesday signed a Memorandum of
  Understanding (MoU) with Google India to promote digital literacy and drive
  digital transformation across the State.
• Chief Minister Laxmikant Parsekar
  ​and Vice President, Google South East Asia and India ​Rajan Anandan, ​ signed
  the MoU.
• As a first step to realize this
  vision, the Goa State Government will launch ‘Internet Safety Education’ ​for
  students in Goa in association with Google India. The State government has
  given a nod to include internet safety education as part of the school
  curriculum of classes IX and XII in government schools across the State.
• Google has created a curriculum
  in consultation with experts, developed and shared modules for integration in
  curriculum. As part of the program, Google India has initiated teacher
  trainings and will soon expand to cover 460 schools, teaching over 80,000 students
  on how to stay safe online, said Mr. Rajan Anandan.
• Chief Minister Parsekar said that
  this step will be a turning point in the field of IT in Goa and will be known
  as one of the milestones.

• Gujarat in the last week of
  August 2016 has become the first state to distribute 2 crore LED bulbs under
  Unnat Jyoti by Affordable LEDs for All (UJALA) scheme.
• The state achieved the milestone
  in only 96 days. Over 42 lakh households have benefitted from the scheme.
• The distribution of 2 crore LED
  bulbs has led to an annual energy savings of 259 crore kWh, which is equivalent
  to lighting up 5 lakh Indian homes for an entire year. Besides, Gujarat has
  also benefitted from daily CO2 emission reduction of 5000 tonnes.
• Energy Efficiency Services
  Limited (EESL), under the administration of Ministry of Power, Government of
  India, is distributing approximately 2 lakh bulbs daily in Gujarat.

• India’s 100-year-old athlete, Man
  Kaur, on 30 August 2016 won Gold medal at the American Masters Games in the
  100-meter dash. She took a minute-and-a-half to cross the finish line in
  Vancouver.
• Kaur from Chandigarh was the only
  female competitor in her age category at the competition for older athletes.
• Earlier, she won gold medals in
  the javelin and shot put. Kaur has now won more than 20 medals in Masters Games
  across the globe.
• The World Masters Games is an
  international multi-sport event that takes place every four years, with
  regional games in between. The average age of the athletes is 49, and there’s
  one man who is even older than Kaur 101-year-old Nihal Gill of Richmond,
  British Columbia.