Current Affairs Update – 3rd March, 2015

• The Insurance Laws Amendment Bill was introduced in the Lok
  Sabha today to replace an ordinance in this regard, amid stiff opposition from
  Left and TMC.
• The bill seeks to raise foreign investment cap to 49 per
  cent in the insurance sector and provides for imprisonment of up to 10 years
  for selling policies without registration with the regulator IRDA.
• The Insurance Laws (Amendment) Bill, 2015, will also allow
  PSU general insurers to raise funds from the capital market and provides for
  increased penalty to deter multilevel marketing of insurance products.
• Under the new provisions, the Life Insurance Council and the
  General Insurance Council would act as self-regulating bodies for the sector.

• The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has refused to share its
  banks’ inspection reports on alleged money laundering laws and other violations
  with Central Economic Intelligence Bureau (CEIB), citing legal hurdles.
• The RBI was required to share relevant extracts of
  inspection reports with law enforcement agencies and CEIB, an apex intelligence
  agency under the Finance Ministry, to check black money and other financial
  crimes where gross violations of Know Your Customer (KYC) guidelines and
  Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) are noticed, official sources said.
• It had earlier given assurance about sharing of information
  relating to Foreign Exchange Management Act (FEMA) violations with CEIB, which
  they share with Enforcement Directorate (ED), they said.

• A bill seeking to introduce the system of auction of mines
  to enhance transparency and augment mineral production was passed in Lok Sabha
  today, with the government terming it a “revolutionary” step.
• The Mines and Minerals (Development and Regulation)
  Amendment Bill, 2015, which will replace an ordinance promulgated in January,
  was passed amid vociferous protests by members from TMC, BJD and RSP.
• Wrapping up the debate on the legislation, Steel and Mines
  Minister Narendra Singh Tomar said the bill once enacted will increase
  transparency, end discretion, augment production and benefit the local population.
• Noting that iron ore production had gradually declined to
  152 million tonnes in 2013-14 from 218 million tonnes in 2009-10 and its export
  fell to 16 million tonnes from 47 million tonnes, he said the ordinance was the
  need of the hour as the crisis in the mining sector has been increasing.

• In order to facilitate last mile connectivity to passengers
  and tourists, the IRCTC has launched concierge services at New Delhi railway
  station.
• The service aims to facilitate train passengers at the
  station in hiring a porter, getting information regarding running status of the
  trains, and arranging a taxi for dropping the passenger to his residence or
  hotel, a senior IRCTC official said.
• Concierge service is operational on a pilot basis at New
  Delhi railway station and the response is so far very encouraging, the official
  said, adding, IRCTC plans to launch the services at other major stations
  including tourist destinations on railways network.

• The Election Commission of India (ECI) on 3 March 2015
  launched National Electoral Roll Purification and Authentication Programme
  (NERPAP) throughout India. The programme was launched with the prime objective
  to bring a total error-free and authenticated electoral roll.
• NERPAP will focus on improving image quality of electors
  along with sorting issues like corrections of errors etc.
• During the NERPAP, Electronic Privacy Information Centre (EPIC)
  data of electors will be linked with Aadhar data of UIDAI for the purpose of
  authentication.

• Prime Minister Narendra Modi will dedicate to the nation two
  units each of 600 MW of the Shree Singaji Thermal Power Plant in Khandwa
  district on March 5.
• He will also lay the foundation stone of two units each of
  660 MW of the same power plant, Nanawati said.
• Shree Singaji Thermal Power Plant is a coal-fired project
  located near Dongaliya village in Khandwa. The project is owned by MPPGCL.

• Hifikepunye Pohamba, outgoing Namibian President, on 2 March
  2015 won the Mo Ibrahim prize for achievement in African leadership for year
  2014. Established in 2007, the Ibrahim Prize recognises and celebrates
  excellence in African leadership.
• Pohamba was awarded for serving the country since its
  independence and his leadership has renewed people’s trust in democracy. He is
  a role model for the African continent.
• The award is named after Mo Ibrahim, a British-Sudanese
  mobile communications entrepreneur and philanthropist, who had made billions of
  fortune from investing in Africa.

• U.S. economist Stephen Ross was named winner of the Deutsche
  Bank Prize in Financial Economics on Tuesday for helping to create models that
  have helped markets assess prices for options and other assets for the past
  three decades.
• The MIT professor and popular textbook author have developed
  concepts widely applied in the economics of uncertainty, corporate finance and
  decision theory.
• The prize honours researchers whose work has influenced
  financial economics and macroeconomics. The prize was awarded for the first
  time in 2005 to University of Chicago professor Eugene Fama, who went on to
  share the Nobel Prize for economics in 2013.
• The last recipient, in 2013, was Raghuram Rajan, governor
  of the Reserve Bank of India and former chief economist at the International
  Monetary Fund.

• Olympic medalist pugilist MC Mary Kom on 2 March 2015
  announced that she will quit boxing after the 2016 Rio Olympic Games. She
  decided to retire after the Olympic Games as her body would not be able to cope
  with the rigours of the sport any further.
• The 32-year-old May Kom who won a bronze medal in 2012
  London Olympics said that after retirement she will concentrate on her boxing
  academy set up in Imphal, Manipur.

• Swiss Tennis ace, Roger Federer on 28 February 2015 won the Dubai
  Duty Free Tennis Championships title. To lift his seventh Dubai Championship
  title, Federer defeated world number one Novak Djokovic of Serbia 6-3, 7-5.
• The only other tournaments Federer won seven times are
  Wimbledon and Halle (Germany), both on grass.
• This was 126th ATP final for Federer of which he had won
  84th career title. He also passed 9000 aces in singles matches, the fete
  achieved only by three other players since 1991.

• Three-time Grand Slam winner Sania Mirza of India has
  decided to team up with former World No. 1 Martina Hingis of Switzerland in the
  US-leg of the WTA Tour circuit after parting ways with women’s doubles partner
  Hsieh Su-wei of Chinese Taipei with whom she featured in the doubles final of
  the just-concluded Doha Open championship.

• Forbes magazine on 3 March 2015 released Global
  Billionaire’s 2015 annual list. Bill Gates co-founder of Microsoft topped the
  global billionaires list of Forbes magazine with worth of 79.2 billion US
  dollars for the 16th time.
• The United States topped the list with 536 rich people,
  followed by China at 213 rich people, Germany at 103 rich people and India at
  90 rich people.
• 90 Indians were present in Forbes annual list, which
  includes Mukesh Ambani – Reliance Industries Limited, ranked 39, Dilip Shanghvi
  ranked 44 and Azim Premji ranked 48.
• Among Indian women, Savitri Jindal and family was ranked 283
  on the list with a net worth of $5.3 billion in 2015, up from $4.9 billion in
  2014.

Books For 2015 Banking/Insurance Exams