Daily Gk 23rd June 2017

Current affairs for IBPS RRB,RBI,DENA BANK,SSC CGL,UPSC,AFCAT

National

Uttarakhand and Haryana declared 4th and 5th ODF States in the country

Image Source - World Bank

·         Under the Swachh Bharat Mission Gramin (SBM-G), rural Uttarakhand and rural Haryana have declared themselves as the 4th and 5th Open Defecation Free (ODF) States of India.

·         The two joined the league of Sikkim, Himachal Pradesh and Kerala, which were the first three states to be declared ODF. Nationally, the sanitation coverage has increased from 42% to over 64% in just two and a half years since the launch of SBM.

·         Uttarakhand has 13 districts, 95 blocks, 7256 gram panchayats and 15751 villages while Haryana has 21 districts, 124 blocks, and 6083 gram panchayats - all of which have declared themselves as ODF in formal declarations in Dehradun and Chandigarh, respectively.

·         With the total number of ODF States now rising to 5, more than 2 Lakh villages and 147 districts have also been declared ODF across the country.

Narendra Modi talks to Swedish PM Stefan Lofven, thanks him for     support to 'Make-in- India'

·         Prime Minister Narendra Modi  had a telephonic conversation with his Swedish counterpart Stefan Lofven during which he conveyed his appreciation for Sweden's support to the 'Make-in-India' programme.

·         Sweden had participated in a big way in the 'Make-in- India Week' held in Mumbai last year, with Lofven himself attending it along with a large delegation consisting of government officials, heads of agencies and industry leaders.

·         Modi and Lofven had jointly inaugurated Sweden's pavilion at the 'Make-in-India Week' last year in which over 18 Swedish companies had participated.

·         "Swedish industry has always believed in India as a perfect trading partner, right from the time Ericsson laid the first cables in 1903 to the current times when our companies are looking to raise their investments and their manufacturing units here," Swedish Ambassador to India Harald Sandberg had said then.

Presidential election: Meira Kumar is Opposition candidate

·         The Opposition unanimously selected former Lok Sabha Speaker Meira Kumar as its candidate for the presidential election next month.

·         Ms. Kumar, as senior Congress leader Ghulam Nabi Azad pointed out, is the daughter of freedom fighter, former Union Minister and Dalit icon Jagjivan Ram, and has an impressive CV — she has been a five-time Lok Sabha member, Lok Sabha Speaker, Union Cabinet Minister and has had a stint in the Indian Foreign Service.

Tripathi takes oath as Bihar Governor

·         West Bengal Governor Keshri Nath Tripathi took oath as Bihar Governor as additional charge.

·         The Chief Justice of the Patna High Court, Rajendra Menon, administered the oath to Mr. Tripathi at a function in the Raj Bhavan.

·         Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, Deputy CM Tejashwi Prasad Yadav and Speaker Vijay Kumar Choudhary were among those who attended the ceremony.

·         The post of Bihar Governor fell vacant after Ram Nath Kovind resigned.

International

‘US approves sale of 22 Guardian drones to India’

·         The US has cleared the sale of 22 unmanned Guardian drones to India, governmental sources said , a deal being termed as a “game changer” ahead of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to Washington for his maiden meeting with President Donald Trump.

·         The deal, estimated to be worth $2to 3 billion, has been approved by the State Department, the sources said.

·         The designation of India being a “major defence partner” was decided by the previous Obama Administration, and formally approved by the Congress.

At least 34 killed in suicide blast in southern Afghanistan

·         A car bomb exploded outside a bank in Lashkar Gah, capital of the southern Afghan province of Helmand, killing and wounding dozens of civilians and members of the security forces waiting to collect their pay, officials said.

·         Omar Zwak, spokesman for the provincial governor, said at least 34 people had been killed and more than 60 wounded, including members of the police and army, civilians and staff of the New Kabul Bank branch where the attack took place.

Kulbhushan Jadhav files mercy petition before Pakistani military chief

·         The Pakistani military announced that former Indian Navy officer Kulbhushan Jadhav had filed a mercy petition with Army chief General Qamar Javed Bajwa.

·         Mr. Jadhav was sentenced to death by a military court in April for espionage and terrorism. The International Court of Justice in May halted the execution on India’s appeal.

·         In a statement by the Inter Services Public Relations, military spokesman Major General Asif Ghafoor said Mr. Jadhav had filed the mercy plea with a confessional statement that he was involved in subversive activities in Balochistan.

Economy 

India Signs Loan Agreement for co-financing of part funding through World Bank for USD 240 million and USD 160 Million from AIIB for “24X7 Power for All in Andhra Pradesh Project”

    

·         A Loan Agreement for part funding of USD 240 million from the World Bank (IBRD) and USD 160 Million from AIIB      (60:40 ratio) for “24X7 Power for All in Andhra Pradesh Project” was signed by Shri Raj Kumar, Joint Secretary (MI), Department of Economic Affairs,Ministry of Finance on behalf of the Government of India, Mr. Hisham Abdo, Operations Manager and Acting Country Director, World Bank (India) on behalf of the World Bank and Mr. D.J. Pandian Vice-President & Chief Investment Officer, AIIB.

·         Total Cost of the project is USD 570 million, out of which USD 240 million is from World Bank (IBRD) and USD 160 million from AIIB. The rest will be counterpart funding from GoAP.

·         The objective of the project is to increase the delivery of electricity to customers and to improve the operational efficiency and system reliability in distribution of electricity in selected areas in Andhra Pradesh.

RBI expands oversight committee

·         The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has expanded its Oversight Committee — formed to advice banks on stressed asset resolution — by adding three more members, taking the total to five.

·         S. Raman and M.B.N. Rao, both former Canara Bank chairman and manging director, and former L&T Finance Holdings chairman Y. M. Deosthalee, are the new members. Former SBI managing director, Janki Ballabh, is the other member. The committee is headed by former chief vigilance commissioner, Pradeep Kumar.

·         The RBI said circular regarding details of the process to be followed by banks for resolution of identified stressed assets within six months would be issued separately.

Resolve 55 accounts in 6 months or face IBC: RBI

·         RBI has asked banks to resolve 55 high value cases of bad loans within six months or face the prospect of being directed to go in for the new insolvency resolution mechanism as part of the strategy to rein in unacceptable level of non-performing assets (NPAs).

·         Earlier this month, Reserve Bank of India identified 12 accounts for insolvency proceedings with each of them having over Rs.5, 000 crore of outstanding loans, accounting for 25% of total NPAs of banks.

·         RBI has asked banks to find solution for 55 identified NPA accounts within 6 months otherwise the central bank would examine those cases and refer for resolution under the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code (IBC), official sources said.

·         The banking sector is saddled with NPAs of over Rs. 8 lakh crore, of which Rs.6 lakh crore is with public sector banks (PSBs). The 12 identified cases account for 25% or about Rs. 2 lakh crore of NPAs.

·         IBC has defined time-frame for the resolution and there is 14-day time period for admission or rejection of a case by National Company Law Tribunal. After a case is accepted by NCLT, the creditor would get 30 days to hire insolvency practitioners and then the entire process to be completed in 180 days which will look at various possibilities including revival of projects or liquidation.

Indian IT export to grow 7-8% in current fiscal: Nasscom

·         Indian IT export is projected to grow by 7-8 per cent in 2017-18, industry body Nasscom said in its guidance.

·         The domestic market is expected to grow 10-11 per cent, it said.

·         The IT-BPM industry is expected to add 1.3-1.5 lakh new jobs during 2017-18, Nasscom president R Chandrashekhar told reporters here. In the previous fiscal, the industry’s net hiring stood at 1.7 lakh.

·         “India’s share in the global IT sector is not only steady, but also growing,” Mr. Chandrashekhar said. The size of the Indian IT industry is pegged at USD 154 billion, including USD 11 billion incremental revenues added in the previous fiscal, according to Nasscom.

Science & Technology

Centre orders 37 lakh doses of diarrheas vaccine that can withstand heat and requires no refrigeration

·         The Central government has placed an order for 37 lakh doses of a rotavirus vaccine that promises to beat heat issues and requires no refrigeration.

·          The vaccine, set to be launched in the country in August by Pune-based vaccine maker Serum Institute of India, has undergone clinical trials in India and Africa. Its heat-stable attribute will help it reach remote corners of the country without damage due to power outages and lack of cold storage facilities.

·         Rotavirus, the leading cause of diarrhoea in children under five, kills close to one lakh children of the 3.34 lakh that succumb to diarrhoeal diseases in India every year. The high mortality rate pushed the Centre to finally introduce the rotavirus vaccine in the Universal Immunisation Programme last year.

Sports

Afghanistan, Ireland granted Test status by ICC

·         In a very significant development in cricketing world, the war-torn Afghanistan was confirmed as ‘Full Member’ of ICC thereby granting them Test status alongside Ireland as the 11th and 12th nation respectively.

·         They are the first admissions since Bangladesh gained Test status in 2000.

·         The two countries, who already have one-day and Twenty20 international status, have enjoyed notable successes against Test-playing nations in global competitions in recent years.

·         Ireland, who is 12th in the ICC one-day rankings, beat England in the 2011 World Cup, four years after a shock victory over Pakistan in the same competition.

·         Afghanistan, currently 10th in the rankings, drew an ODI series with T20 world champions West Indies this month.

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