Current Affairs Today – March 30 2016

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INDIAN AFFAIRS

Dr. Najma Heptulla Launches Innovative Entrepreneurship & Skill Development Programme of MANAS

Minority Affairs Minister Najma Heptulla Launched Innovative Entrepreneurship & Skill Development Programme of MANAS through Renowned Experts in Different Skill Sets that  is the desire and striving for excellence in any field of activity.

• The Minister also inaugurated online two training centres of Beauty & Wellness Sector, one in Okhla that will be trained by Jawed Habib in scientific and systematic training to the aspirants wishing to pursue a career in cosmetology and another in Daryaganjarea where Ms.Shahnaz Hussain will impart training to aspirant sat in the area of natural care and cure.

Arun Jaitley launches ‘Make in India’ conference in Sydney

Finance minister Arun Jaitley who is in Sydney for two days has launched the ‘Make in India’conference in Sydney.

• Inaugurating the conference, Arun Jaitley called the Australian investors to invest in India
• He told that currently the services sector gave the highest contribution to the GDP of India and he wants Manufacturing sector to contribute equally
• He also informed that with ‘Make in India’campaign the investors can invest in India and capitalize the biggest market in the world

India will allow private sector hiring through government job exams

Union government will now share the results of government recruitment exams and PSUs will be shared with private player after taking the consent of candidates so that other employers can benefit from that.

• The move will provide a rich data base which can be used by private sector employers as a ready-made and objective sourcing and screening mechanism
• The scores in examinations have been retained by the government. Hereafter, it will be available to all employers openly, wherever consent is given by the candidate.
• It will reduce search costs in the labour market for both employers and employees. It will enable better matching of candidates from labour surplus areas with jobs in other regions.

INTERNATIONAL AFFAIRS

Egyptian plane hijacked to Cyprus

EgyptAir Flight MS181 was taken over by a passenger claiming to be wearing a suicide explosive A hijacking that diverted a domestic Egyptian flight that was scheduled to land in Cairo.

• At least 55 passengers were on board to Cyprus has ended with all hostages released and the hijacker surrendering.
• The passengers and crew were unharmed. Eighty-one people, including 21 foreigners and 15 crew, were on board the Airbus 320.
• The hijacker forced the EgyptAir Airbus A320, which left from Alexandria, to land more than 300 miles away at Larnaca airport on the southern coast of Cyprus

Egypt:

• Capital: Cairo
• Currency: Egyptian Pound

UNICEF Launches “Unfairy Tales” Of Refugee And Migrant Children

The UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) launched a series of animated films to help frame positive insights toward the tens of millions of children and young people on the move worldwide.

• At least 65 million children and young people globally are on the move to escape conflict, poverty and extreme weather and find a stable life and a place to call home
• The Unfairy Tales are part of an initiative, #actofhumanity, highlighting that children are children, no matter where they come from, and that every child has rights and deserves a fair chance.

UNICEF

• United Nations Children’s Emergency Fund is a United Nations program headquartered in New York City.
• The Body work in 190 countries and territories to translate that commitment into practical action, focusing special effort on reaching the most vulnerable and excluded children.

BANKING & FINANCE

RBI, Sri Lanka Central Bank Sign Currency Swap Pact

Reserve Bank of India Currency swaps agreement with the Central Bank of Sri Lanka the pact would allow its Sri Lankan counterpart to draw up to $700 million over a maximum period of three months under a new special currency swap agreement signed by the two central banks.

• Sri Lanka is seeking a loan of $1.5 billion from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) to boost foreign exchange reserves and help avert a balance of payments crisis.
• The country has seen its foreign exchange reserves depleted by the central bank’s defence of its rupee currency, as it struggles with heavy debt piled up under the previous government.

ADB lowers Asia’s growth forecast to 5.7%

The Asian Development Bank headquartered at Manila, has brought down the forecast of growth of Asia to 5.7% for the financial year 2016-17.

Flash points

• The Asian Development Outlook, a supplement of ADB has predicted the growth of Asian economy to be at 5.7%
• This was due to the reduced global demand and a slow Chinese economy
• Earlier the growth was predicted at 6%for 2016 in December,2015

CBDT signed 11 Advance Pricing Agreements

The Central Board of Direct Taxes department has signed 11 Advance Pricing Agreements with taxpayers overseas to reduce litigations.

• With this India has signed totally 59 unilateral and/or bilateral agreements
• The APA was enacted in the Income tax act, 2012 and rollback provisions were provided in 2014
• The agreements cover corporate guarantees, royalty, software development services, IT enabled services and trading

European Investment Bank to loan €450 million for Lucknow Metro

The European Union’s official bank European Investment Bank will Provide loan to Lucknow Metro Project of €450 million (about Rs. 3,300 crore) towards constructing a 23-km long rail line and a purchasing a fleet of new trains.

• The metro project will be the most expensive public transport system in the state of Uttar Pradesh costing Rs.6928  cr
• The EU’s official bank and the world’s largest international public bank, and its loan will cover half of the total project costs for the Lucknow Metro.
• The first phase roll out of €200 million during Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to Brussels, as part of the 13th India E.U. Summit. The remaining tranches will be disbursed over the course of the project.

Lucknow Metro Rail Project:

• The Lucknow Metro system, when completed, will be the fastest and most economical high speed rapid transit system project in India.

Government permits 100% FDI in e-commerce

The government has allowed 100% FDI in e-commerce through automatic route in marketplace model of retailing. This is not applicable to the inventory based  model of e-commerce.

Key features

• 100 per cent FDI is permitted in B2B (business-to-business) transactions under the automatic route
• According to the norms, an e-commerce firm will not be permitted to sell more than 25 per cent of total sales from one vendor or its group companies
• It will also prevent the online websites from providing huge discounts and the rates will be in par with the retailers

RBI cancels recognition of 22 NBFC’s

RBI has cancelled the certificate of registration of 22 NBFC’s . Earlier, in the month beginning 6 more NBFC’s licenses were cancelled Due to the cancellation, the firms cannot enter into the financing business.

• RBI has cancelled the registration owing to its powers conferred under Section 45-IA (6) of the Reserve Bank of India Act, 1934
• Kundan Leasing and Finvest, Raseera Investments, Limtex Impex, Dignity Motors Finance, Akansha Consultancy Services, Bini Commercial Enterprises, Nirankar Investments, and Surin Investments are the NBFC’s whose registration has been cancelled

BUSINESS

Reliance signs deal with Rafael

Mukhesh Ambani owned Reliance defence has entered into a deal with Israeli based Rafael defence to manufacture air to air missile systems, air defence and observatory balloons.

• Reliance will hold 51% of the stake and Rafael will hold 49% in the joint venture agreement
• They will target over $ 10 billion in the next 10 years
• The project will have an initial capital outlay of more than Rs.1,300 crore, excluding the cost of technology

Gujarat, Maharastra –top contributors of Indian Export

The industrial body ASSOCHAM in one of its recent study revealed that Gujarat and Maharashtra contribute nearly 46% of the Indian exports occupying the topmost place.

• The report mentions that the first five states contribute to 69% of the total export of India
• Gujarat, Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh occupy the first 5 places respectively
• The study analysed the exports between 2008-09 to 2014-15

APPOINTMENTS & RESIGNS

Htin Kyaw sworn in as Myanmar President

Htin Kyaw was sworn as Myanmar’s new president along with his two vice presidents and 18 Cabinet ministers.

• Htin Kyaw from the National League for Democracy (NLD) was sworn in as Myanmar’s new president. The first elected civilian leader in more than 50 years.
• Htin Kyaw from the National League for Democracy (NLD) takes over from Thein Sein, who introduced wide-ranging reforms during his five years in power.

National League for Democracy:

• The NLD won 80 per cent of parliamentary seats, handing them a massive public mandate to rule after generations of army domination.
• First Vice President U Myint Swe and second vice president U Henry Van Thio of the NLD also took the oath of office in the presence of Parliament Speaker U Mann Win Khaing Than.

ACQUISITIONS & MERGERS

NTT acquires IT firm of Dell

Japan based NTT has acquired the IT arm of PC manufacturer Dell. The deal is valued at $ 3 billion. Dell has been debt ridden due to the acquisition of data storage provider for $ 67 billion.

• With the new acquisition, NTI will make its presence in North America and expand its global network and improve its infrastructure services
• NTI will now have around 230 data centres across the globe including those of Dell in UK,Australia and US
• Dell services in India are in Bangalore, Noida, Chennai and Coimbatore

Key points:

• President of DELL-  Suresh Vaswani
• President & CEO of NTT- Toshio Iwamoto

SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY

India ranks third among highest financial Trojan Infections

The Internet which has been ruling the world has also left the possible risk of security like Virus infections and hacking risks. It is unfortunate to know that India has been globally placed atthird rank in terms of Trojan infections.

• he analysis was made by Symantec, a global security solutions firm
• The report places India at third place owing to the continued exposure of Indian financial systems to Trojan infections
• However the overall risk was reduced by 73% at the global level

Manohar Parrikar flags off India’s first indigenous Sonar Dome

Union Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar has flagged off India’s first indigenous composites sonar dome, a ship’s underwater eyes and ears.

• The first indigenous composites bow mounted sonar dome was dedicated to the nationduring Def Expo 2016 in Goa. The sonar dome will be supplied to Mazgaon Docks,Mumbai for use in the warships of Indian Navy.
• The sonar dome has been designed by Research & Development Establishment (Engineers), a Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) laboratory based in Pune and manufactured by composites manufacturing company Kineco Ltd, Pilerne, Goa.

Indian media industry to reach 2026 billion by 2020

India’s media and entertainment industry will reach a net worth of 2.20 lakh crores by the year 2020. A report by the FICCI-KPMG had predicted this net worth of the industry.

• The report also reveals that the industry’s revenue will be dominated by the advertisements contributing to almost half of the entire worth
• The revenue from ads has been estimated at99400 crores by 2020

Uber launches ‘Uber MOTO’ in Gurgaon

The cab hailing company Uber just launched its pilot bike sharing service called uberMOTO on Car-Free Tuesdayin Gurgaon. Users can request for a ride through the Uber app between 7:30 am and 9:30 pm.

• UberMOTO will work on Uber’s app, but will use bikes to ferry commuters around instead of cars.
• The US-based company had Uber had earlier launched uberMOTO in Bangalore, but had seen its bikes being seized by the traffic authorities as it they didn’t have the necessary permits required to run bike taxis in the city.

UberMOTO:

• The uber MOTO driver offers a helmet, which users need to wear before they take the ride. Uber MOTO can be paid through one of the Uber payment options, including cash.
• The fares start at Rs 15. The service then charges Rs 3 per kilometre and Rs 1 per minute for a ride.
• Uber make available GPS tracking, 2-way feedback and the ability to share trip details with others with uber MOTO too.

China Launches BeiDou Navigation Satellite

China has launched its navigation satellite BeiDou on Wednesday from Xichang Satellite launching centre.

• It was taken into orbit by a Long March-3A carrier rocket.
• It is the 22nd satellite in the BeiDou Navigation Satellite System (BDS)
• It is 225^th launch of Long March Carrier Rocket

OBITUARY

Former USC President Steven Sample dies at 75

Steven Browning Sample, who was president of the Columbia based University of Southern California for nearly two decades during which the school rose to international prominence has passed away. He was 75.

• Over his 19 years of service, Steven transformed USC into one of the nation’s leading research universities
• Steven as a president made Excellence campaign on the USC Building that raised $2.85 billion, and USC became the first university in the country to receive five donations of $100 million.

Oscar winning actress Patty Duke dies at 69

US actress Patty Duke, has died of sepsis from a ruptured intestine,at the age of 69.

• Patty Duke, who as a teen won an Oscar for playing Helen Keller in The Miracle Worker, then maintained a long career while battling personal demons

Anna Marie Patty Duke:

• Anne was an American actress she appeared in stages and television in her earlier period of the career.
• She first became known as a teen star, winning an OSCAR Award for Best Supporting Actress at age 16 for her role as Helen Keller in The Miracle Worker (1962).
• Over the course of her career, she received ten Emmy Award nominations and three Emmy Awards, and two Golden Globe Awards.