Current affairs

The Young Hans provides important study material useful for General/Financial Awareness section of the Main Examination of SBI Junior Associates to be held on June 25 and 26

India‘s largest private sector lender ICICI Bank has inked an MoU with the BRICS-promoted New Development Bank (NDB) for a partnership in bond issuances, co-financing, treasury management and human resources.

Indian Railways has launched the Bharat Darshan Tourist train for pilgrims to visit Shirdi, Tirupati, Jagannath Puri, Gangasagar, Baidyanath Dham and Jyotirlingams among others. The tourist train comprises 10 coaches and bookings for this budget-friendly package are being done by IRCTC (Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation).

The Union Government has started the process for issuance of Unique Business Identification Number (UBIN) to enable budding entrepreneurs set up their business without any delays.

South Indian Bank has announced its new tie-up with National Australia Bank (NAB) for online inward remittance from Australia at competitive rates.

The single emergency number ‘112’ will be operational throughout India from January 1 to help people reach immediate services of police, ambulance and fire department. The service will also be accessible even through those SIMs and landlines whose outgoing call facility has been stopped or temporarily suspended.

India is ranked at ninth position in crony-capitalism index that was released by the Economist in the first week of May 2016. Russia topped the list and followed by Malaysia, the Philippines and Singapore.

United Kingdom‘s first baby named Biagio Russo was born in Oxford using Next-generation DNA sequencing (NGS) method. This method uses a revolutionary In Vitro Fertilization (IVF) technique resulting in better selection of embryos to transfer during the treatment.

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) announced that it will shortly issue 1000 rupees denomination banknotes in the Mahatma Gandhi Series – 2005 with the inset letter 'R' in both the number panels.

Shashank Manohar was elected unanimously and unopposed as the Chairman of the International Cricket Council (ICC).

Mukesh Ambani-owned Reliance Jio Infocomm has launched digital wallet service, named Jio Money Wallet for Indian consumers. Jio Money is a semi-closed prepaid wallet that aims to enable mobile-based transactions.

India‘s largest private sector bank ICICI Bank has launched country‘s first contactless business credit card in association with Jet Airways for small and mid-sized enterprises (SMEs). The card has been christened as the ‘Jet Airways ICICI Bank Business Advantage Card‘.

Union Government‘s apex think tank NITI (National Institution for Transforming India) Aayog has decided to come up with a 15-year vision document in tandem with global trends and economic growth. NITI Aayog which had replaced erstwhile Planning Commission (PC) in 2015, with its 15-year vision document will also abandon the concept of five-year plans prepared by the PC since 1951.

The Prime Minister along with Sri Lankan President Maithripala Sirisena released 'Simhastha Declaration' at Ninora village in Ujjain.

Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) announced that noted space scientist Udupi Ramachandra Rao, popularly known as U. R. Rao, will be honoured with the International Astronautical Federation (IAF) Hall of Fame Award for 2016.

Former Test cricketer Deepak Shodhan, the first Indian to score a memorable ton in his debut innings, died at the age of 87.

Income Declaration Scheme of the Union Finance Ministry will start from 1 June 2016 and will remain in force till 30 September 2016. The scheme is also called four month window for declaring black money.

US-based law firm Baker Hostetler in May 2016 hired the world‘s first robot lawyer ROSS to assist the company and its various teams in legal research.

The World Bank‘s Board has approved 625 million dollars loan to support India‘s grid connected rooftop solar programme to generate clean energy. The loan will be provided by the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD), lending arm of World Bank.

The Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) said it will start closing its retail banking branches in a phased manner and has started informing its customers. The foreign bank operates 10 retail bank branches across India.

The Union Government has constituted a five member committee to comprehensively review and give ecommendations on the Fiscal Responsibility and Budget Management (FRBM) roadmap for the future.

HDFC Bank Ltd. on 16 May 2016 launched Smart Up solution. It is a first-of-its-kind dedicated platform for start-ups to fulfill all their banking needs. The SmartUp is tailored to meet all the requirements of a start-up, offering banking and payment solutions, along with advisory and forex services.

India successfully test-fired indigenously developed Prithvi-II missile from the Chandipur, off Odisha coast. It weighs 4600 kilogram and has a strike range of 350 kilometer.

World‘s largest single rooftop solar power plant of 11.5 Mega Watt (MW) capacity was inaugurated at Dera Baba Jaimal Singh in Beas near Amritsar in Punjab. This is the largest Solar Power Plant spread over 82 acres of rooftop in single campus on multiple roofs with installed capacity of 19.5 MW.

The Income Tax (IT) department has launched electronic grievance redressal system ‘e-nivaran‘ to fast track taxpayer grievances and ensure early resolution of their complaints.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched an Rs 8,000 crore scheme to provide 5 crore free LPG connections to poor families. In the first year, 1.5 crore such connections will be released and the target of 5 crore will be completed in three years, he said, comparing it to the just 13 crore LPG connections provided in 60 years of independence.

The Union Government has launched National LED programme – Unnat Jyoti by Affordable LEDs for All (UJALA). It was launched by Union Minister for State (IC) for Power, Coal and Renewable Energy Piyush Goyal in Bhopal, Madhya Pradesh.

The Small Industries Development Bank of India (SIDBI) has inked MoU with SAARC Development Fund (SDF) for mutual cooperation and collaboration. The MoU was signed by SIDBI Deputy Managing Director A K Kapur and SDF CEO Sunil Motiwal.

South India‘s first underground metro services flagged of in Bengaluru i.e. at East-West corridor (Purple Line) of Bangalore Metro Rail Corporation Limited (BMRCL).

India and New Zealand have signed a landmark Air Services Agreement paving the way for introduction of direct flights between the two countries.

The Union Ministry of Railways and Forest Department of Haryana and Punjab have inked Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) for plantation of trees alongside Railway Track. The MoU paves way for planting around 5 lakh trees alongside Railway Track.

The World Press Freedom Day was on 3 May 2016 observed across the world with the theme ‘Access to Information and Fundamental Freedoms - This Is Your Right!’

Cricket legend Sachin Tendulkar accepted Indian Olympic Association (IOA)‘s invitation to become the country‘s goodwill ambassador for the Rio Olympics alongside ace shooter Abhinav Bindra and Bollywood star Salman Khan after the controversial actor‘s appointment created an uproar.

Bharat Heavy Electricals Limited (BHEL) commissioned 600 mega watts (MW) coal-based thermal power plant in Madhya Pradesh. The unit was commissioned at the 1x600 MW Jhabua Thermal Power Project (TPP) located in Seoni district in Madhya Pradesh.

Ace snooker player Mark Selby (World no 1) from England has won the 2016 World Championship title of Snooker.

The European Central Bank (ECB) announced that it will permanently stop producing the 500 euro banknote by the end of 2018.

President Pranab Mukherjee has conferred 63rd National Film Awards for the year 2015 in various categories at the function held at Vigyan Bhawan, New Delhi. The 63rd National Film Awards in the various categories Best Actor: Amitabh Bachchan (Piku). Best Actress: Kangana Ranaut (Tanu Weds Manu Returns). Best Direction: Sanjay Leela Bhansali (Bajirao Mastani). Nargis Dutt Award for Best Feature Film on National Integration: Nanak Shah Fakir (Punjabi) directed by Sartaj Singh Pannu.

Vice Admiral Sunil Lanba (58) has been appointed as next Chief of the Naval Staff. He will be 23rd chief of Indian Navy and 21st as an Indian. He will have full three-year-term in office till 31 May 2019.

The Lok Sabha has unanimously passed Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code, 2015. The code seeks to ensure time-bound settlement of insolvency, faster turnaround of businesses and create a unified data base of serial defaulters.

The trade body of Indian IT firms NASSCOM (National Association of Software and Services Companies) has signed a MoU with Social network giant Facebook to build a product design initiative for Indian entrepreneurs.

Indian author Parashar Kulkarni has won the regional Commonwealth Short Story Prize for 2016 for the Asia region.

The Union Government on 5 May 2016 announced that the H.R. Nagendra Committee on Yoga Education in Universities has recommended seven programmes for implementation in universities.

The Union Cabinet has given its approval for the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between Reserve Bank of India (RBI) and Central Bank of United Arab Emirates (UAE) on co-operation concerning currency swap agreement.

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