Hello and welcome to exampundit. Here are the important Current Affairs of 1st June, 2016. These are important for the upcoming UIIC AO 2016, SBI Clerk & SBI PO Mains 2016 Exams.
Current Affairs at a Glance – 1st June, 2016
The government on Wednesday cleared a proposal to set up the India Post payments bank with a corpus of Rs.800 crore and has plans to have 650 branches operational by September 2017, telecom minister Ravi Shankar Prasad said.
The union cabinet chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday approved an investment of Rs 3,770 crore for development of the first phase of the Chennai Metro Rail project.
The Central Statistical Office (CSO) on 31 May 2016 released the provisional estimates of national GDP for 2015-16. It pegged GDP growth at 7.9 percent in Quarter 4 of 2015-16 and 7.6 percent in the whole of 2015-16.
The Government of India and the World Bank on 31 May 2016 signed a 9.2 million US dollar grant agreement under the World Bank-Global Environment Facility (GEF) Programme for the Efficient and Sustainable City Bus Service Project.
India and Morocco on 31 May 2016 launched the India-Morocco Chamber of Commerce and Industry (IMCCI) in Rabat, Morocco.
The Uttar Pradesh (UP) Government on 31 May 2016 approved the Detailed Project Report (DPR) of Varanasi Metro rail project. The DPR will now be sent to the Union government for approval.
The Direct Tax Dispute Resolution Scheme 2016 came into effect on 1 June 2016. The scheme was incorporated as Chapter X of the Finance Act, 2016.
Union Government approved the proposal of extending age of superannuation of all doctors of Central Health Services to 65 years with effect from 31 May 2016.
Bengaluru, India's technology hub is witnessing a larger inflow of qualified professionals than it is losing talent to other cities in the country, according to social network firm Linkedin that compiled data based on changes users made on their profiles on its platform.
To make the country disaster-resilient and reduce loss of lives, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday released a National Disaster Management Plan (NDMP).
Rahul Johri takes charge as first ever BCCI CEO.
An IPS officer, Sudeep Lakhtakia (1984), currently serving as Additional Director-General (Law & Order) in Telangana, has been appointed Additional Director-General in the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF).
CEAT Cricket Awards 2016 were conferred on the players in a function of 20th edition of CEAT awards at Mumbai on 30 May 2016. Former India captain Dilip Vengsarkar was conferred with the Lifetime Achievement Award.
The Global Day of Parents was observed globally on 1 June 2016.
Finance/Banking/Economy –
Cabinet nod for India Post payments bank
The government on Wednesday cleared a proposal to set up the India Post payments bank with a corpus of Rs.800 crore and has plans to have 650 branches operational by September 2017, telecom minister Ravi Shankar Prasad said.
“The Cabinet has cleared proposal of postal payments bank. We have 1.54 lakh post offices of which 1.39 lakh are rural post offices. 650 branches of postal payments bank will be established in the country which will be linked to rural post offices,” Prasad said.
The minister said the payments bank, which will be run by a chief executive officer, will be professionally managed and there will be a representation from various other government departments including the Department of Posts, Department of Expenditure, Department of Economic Services etc.
“Total architecture of postal payments bank is of Rs 800 crore which will have Rs 400 crore equity and Rs 400 crore grant. By September 2017, all 650 branches of postal payments bank will become operational. This we had planned for three years but now we will be doing it in a year,” Prasad said.
He said that all rural post offices will be given handheld devices by March 2017.
Cabinet approves Rs 3,770 crore Chennai Metro Phase-I project
The union cabinet chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday approved an investment of Rs 3,770 crore for development of the first phase of the Chennai Metro Rail project.
The 9.051 km corridor between Washermanpet and Wimconagar will be executed by Chennai Metro Rail Ltd (CMRL), the existing special purpose vehicle (SPV) of the centre and the state government with equal share of equity.
The centre will have a share of Rs 713 crore in the total project cost while the state government's share would stand at Rs 916 crore.The state's share includes Rs 203 crore as cost of land acquisition and resettlement and rehabilitation (R&R).
The balance amount of Rs 2,141 crore for the project would be sourced as loan from domestic or multi-lateral funding agencies. The project is estimated to have a ridership of 160,000 passengers per day in the first year of operation.
National GDP Provisional Estimates for 2015-16 released
The Central Statistical Office (CSO) on 31 May 2016 released the provisional estimates of national GDP for 2015-16. It pegged GDP growth at 7.9 percent in Quarter 4 of 2015-16 and 7.6 percent in the whole of 2015-16.
India continued to remain a bright spot in world economy with robust macro-economic and fiscal parameters.
Highlights of the Accounts:
Fiscal Deficit: It stands at 3.9 percent of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) in 2015-16 as estimated both in Budget Expenditure (BE) and Revenue Expenditure (RE) of 2015-16. This is a significant improvement over the Fiscal Deficit of 4.1 percent in 2014-15 and 4.7 percent in 2013-14.
Revenue Deficit: It also showed a significant improvement due to increase in Capital Expenditure of the Central Government. Revenue Deficit which stood at 3.2 percent of GDP in 2013-14 has improved to 2.9 percent in 2014-15 and 2.5 percent in 2015-16.
Plan Expenditure: It is 471081 crore rupees in 2015-16 which is 8437 crore rupees higher over 2014-15 despite substantial increase in share of tax devolution to the States.
Gross tax collection: It showed 17 percent growth as compared to Fiscal 2014-15 and also showed an improvement up to 10.74 percent of GDP (tax-GDP ratio) in 2015-16 as compared to 10.06 percent in 2013-14.
Non Tax Receipts: These also showed improvement with 250744 crore in 2015-16 when compared to 197766 crore in 2014-15 and 198865 crore in 2013-14.
India and World Bank sign agreement to improve efficiency and attractiveness of City Bus Services
The Government of India and the World Bank on 31 May 2016 signed a 9.2 million US dollar grant agreement under the World Bank-Global Environment Facility (GEF) Programme for the Efficient and Sustainable City Bus Service Project.
The project aims at improving the efficiency and attractiveness of bus services in select Indian cities.
The project will complement the Government of India’s Bus Funding Scheme launched to promote public transport by supporting cities to modernize their bus services.
Demonstration cities where the various initiatives for improving city bus services will be undertaken are Mira Bhayandar in Maharashtra, Chandigarh, Jaipur, and Bhopal.
Key highlights of the project
The project will demonstrate low cost high impact initiatives in efficient bus operations.
It will focus on modernizing city bus services through modern depots for improving the maintenance of buses.
It will introduce modern Intelligent Transport Systems and Management Information Systems for better planning and management of operations.
India and Morocco launch Chamber of Commerce and Industry
India and Morocco on 31 May 2016 launched the India-Morocco Chamber of Commerce and Industry (IMCCI) in Rabat, Morocco.
The chamber was jointly launched by visiting Vice President Hamid Ansari and Moroccan Prime Minister Abdelilah Benkirane.
The IMCCI was launched to accelerate the pace of economic development between the two nations.
Morocco has recently emerged as a favoured destination for investments by Indian firms that Indian companies have cumulatively invested more than 320 million US dollars in Morocco, including in the flagship project, the Indo-Maroc Phosphore SA joint venture.
UP Government approves Detailed Project Report of Varanasi Metro Rail
The Uttar Pradesh (UP) Government on 31 May 2016 approved the Detailed Project Report (DPR) of Varanasi Metro rail project. The DPR will now be sent to the Union government for approval.
The responsibility of coordination for preparation of DPR for Metros in Kanpur, Varanasi, Meerut and Agra was assigned to Lucknow Metro Rail Corporation (LMRC) by state government.
Highlights of the Detailed Project Report
According to the DPR, the 29.23 km Metro will have two corridors that include from BHEL to Banaras Hindu University (19.35 km) and Benia Bagh to Sarnath (9.885 km).
There will be 26 stations, 20 underground and six elevated in the two corridors.
Out of the total length, 23.467 km will be elevated, while 5.768 km will be underground.
The estimated cost of the project is 13133 crore rupees.
Direct Tax Dispute Resolution Scheme 2016 comes into force
The Direct Tax Dispute Resolution Scheme 2016 came into effect on 1 June 2016. The scheme was incorporated as Chapter X of the Finance Act, 2016.
The declarations under this Scheme may be made on or before the 31 December 2016 in respect of tax arrears & specified tax.
Procedure to file Declaration
Declarant to file declaration to the designated authority not below the rank of Commissioner in Form-1 to the designated authority and verified in the manner specified therein.
The designated authority shall within 60 days from the date of receipt of declaration, determine the amount payable by the declarant.
The declarant shall pay the sum within 30 days of passing such order and furnish a proof of the sum.
Any amount paid in pursuance of declaration shall not be refundable.
Scheme will not apply in following cases:-
Cases where prosecution has been initiated before 29.02.2016.
Search or survey cases where the declaration is in respect of tax arrears
Cases relating to undisclosed foreign income and assets
Sponsored
India –
Union Government approved retirement age of doctors of Central Health Services to 65
Union Government approved the proposal of extending age of superannuation of all doctors of Central Health Services to 65 years with effect from 31 May 2016.
The proposal was made by the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare to strengthen the healthcare sector in the country.
Benefits of this increase
It will help in providing additional doctors in the health pool of the country.
This will enable the government to retain experienced doctors for a longer period and to provide better services in its public health facilities.
The decision is likely to benefit about 4000 doctors. As of now, the retirement age of doctors in government hospitals 62yeas in some others and is 60 years in others.
Bengaluru is India's most preferred city for professionals to work: LinkedIn
Bengaluru, India's technology hub is witnessing a larger inflow of qualified professionals than it is losing talent to other cities in the country, according to social network firm Linkedin that compiled data based on changes users made on their profiles on its platform.
Nearly a third of its 2.3 million users in the IT capital of the country were working in the technology sector, while financial services, manufacturing and engineering, and hospitals and health care were also big employers of LinkedIn users in the city.
The biggest inflow of professionals into Bengaluru came from Chennai, Mumbai, Hyderabad and Pune, cities which have a presence in technology, financial services and engineering.
While the largest recruiters on the platform continued to be large IT services companies, e-commerce giant Flipkart made it to the list for top ten recruiters in the country.
With Bengaluru becoming a preferred destination for professionals, the city's infrastructure has come under tremendous strain. Bengaluru, with a population of 10 million has over six million vehicles on roads, according to March 2016 data by the Karnataka transport department.
PM releases UN-backed National Disaster Management Plan
To make the country disaster-resilient and reduce loss of lives, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday released a National Disaster Management Plan (NDMP).
“This is the first ever national plan prepared in the country,” said a statement from the Prime Minister’s Office.
The plan is based on four priority themes outlined by the United Nation’s ‘Sendai Framework,’ -- understanding disaster risk, improving disaster risk governance, investing in disaster risk reduction (through structural and non-structural measures) and disaster preparedness, early warning and building back better in the aftermath of a disaster.
The Framework was adopted by member-states on March 18, 2015, at the third UN World Conference on Disaster Risk Reduction in Sendai, Japan.
The plan, designed to be scalable at all levels, will cover disaster prevention, mitigation, response and recovery. It provides for horizontal and vertical integration among all the agencies and departments of the government, the statement read.
Appointments –
Rahul Johri takes charge as first ever BCCI CEO
The Indian Cricket Board’s first ever CEO Rahul Johri, who was appointed on the recommendation of the Justice Lodha Committee, today took charge of the position in the BCCI headquarters here.
Welcoming Johri on board, BCCI extended its warm wishes to the new Chief Executive Officer. “BCCI extends a warm welcome to CEO Mr. Rahul Johri who takes charge from today,” BCCI wrote on its twitter handle.
Johri will be based at the Mumbai office, a statement from the Board had earlier stated.
Before joining BCCI, Johri last served as Discovery Networks Asia Pacific’s Executive Vice-President and General Manager for South Asia.
Sudeep Lakhtakia appointed CRPF Additional DG
An IPS officer, Sudeep Lakhtakia (1984), currently serving as Additional Director-General (Law & Order) in Telangana, has been appointed Additional Director-General in the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF).
Orders from the competent authority said the appointment was from the date of his joining the post, upto July 31, 2019 (i.e., date of his retirement on superannuation) or till further orders, whichever event took place earlier.
Among other positions that Mr. Lakhtakia occupied in his long career were Superrintendent of Police, Warangal, Deputy Commissioners of Police (Traffic) and in Hyderabad-West Zone, Commissioner –Vijayawada and Deputy Inspector General-Security.
He was Inspector-General in the elite Special Protection Group for about eight years before he moved back to his home cadre as ADG-L & O.
Former Delhi Police Commissioner BS Bassi appointed UPSC member
The President Pranab Mukherjee on 31 May 2016 appointed Bhim Sain Bassi, IPS (Retd) as a member of Union Public Service Commission (UPSC).
He will hold the constitutional post till February 2021, from the day when he enters the office.
Sports –
CEAT Cricket Awards 2016 conferred
CEAT Cricket Awards 2016 were conferred on the players in a function of 20th edition of CEAT awards at Mumbai on 30 May 2016. Former India captain Dilip Vengsarkar was conferred with the Lifetime Achievement Award.
England batsman Joe Root was named as the CEAT International Cricketer of the Year and also International batsman of the Year 2016 while India’s test captain Virat Kohli was named CEAT T20 Player of the Year.
List of the award winners:
Lifetime Achievement Award – Dilip Vengsarkar
International Cricketer of the Year – Joe Root
International Batsman of the Year – Joe Root
International Bowler of the Year – Ravichandran Ashwin
Test Cricketer of the Year – Kane Williamson
ODI Cricketer of the Year – Martin Guptill
T20 Player of the Year – Virat Kohli
Indian Cricketer of the Year – Rohit Sharma
Sonia Lather won silver in Women’s World Boxing Championships
Indian boxer Sonia Lather on 27 May 2016 won the silver medal at the AIBA Women's World Championships in Astana.
Though she reached the finals in the 57kg category, she was defeated by the gold medalist Mesiano Alessia of Italy 2-1.
India's last gold at the bi-annual event came in 2010 when MC Mary Kom finished on top in the 48kg category to clinch her fifth world title.
World –
World’s longest tunnel opens in Switzerland
The world’s longest tunnel officially opened on Wednesday, with the trailblazing rail passage under the Swiss Alps aiming to ease transit through the heart of Europe.
With political unity on the continent shaken by a massive influx of migrants and the looming threat of Britain’s European Union (EU) departure, Swiss President Johan Schneider-Amman said the tunnel would “join the people and the economies” of Europe. He spoke before the 57-kilometre Gotthard Base Tunnel (GBT) made its ceremonial first run with European leaders on board.
The number of daily rail passengers is expected to increase from the current rate of 9,000 people to 15,000 by 2020, according to the Swiss federal railway service.
The rough design for a rail tunnel under the Gotthard Pass was first sketched by Swiss engineer Carl Eduard Gruner in 1947. But bureaucratic delays, concerns over the cost and other hurdles pushed back the start of construction until 1999.
With its official opening, the Gotthard Base Tunnel has surpassed Japan’s 53.9-kilometre Seikan tunnel as the world’s longest train tunnel.
Days –
Global Day of Parents observed across the world
The Global Day of Parents was observed globally on 1 June 2016. The Global Day provides an opportunity to appreciate all parents in all parts of the world for their selfless commitment to children and their lifelong sacrifice towards nurturing this relationship.
The Day was proclaimed by the UN General Assembly in 2012 and honours parents throughout the world.
In its resolution, the General Assembly also noted that the family has the primary responsibility for the nurturing and protection of children. It calls for a harmonious development of their personality.
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