General Awareness Bullet- 2015 (Comprehensive Summary of General Awareness Topics of July 2015)
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www.pagalguy.com General Awareness Bullet- 2015 (Comprehensive summary of general awareness topics of July 2015) Dear PaGaLGuY readers, This General Awareness Bullet is a comprehensive summary of important news and events that occurred in July 2015. This bullet is relevant for Banking, SSC, Insurance and UPSC Exams . We intend to release PaGaLGuY Bullets for various exams every month. Do print out a hard copy of this for your regular use. Our goal is to ensure that you perform well in your exams and that you have the necessary material readily available. To receive all the material that we have, log on to http://www.pagalguy.com Prepared by - Shraddha Kakade (http://www.pagalguy.com/@shraddha141 ) RBI in news Current Rates: Repo Rate 7.25% Reserve Repo 6.25% Cash Reserve Ratio (CRR) 4% Statutory Liquidity Ratio (SLR) 21.5% Marginal Standing Facility (MSF) 8.25% Bank Rate 8.25% www.pagalguy.com www.pagalguy.com 1. Central Bank of Sri Lanka, RBI ink currency swap agreement - The RBI has signed a special currency swap agreement with the Central Bank of Sri Lanka, which allows the latter to draw up to $1.1 billion for a maximum of six months. This agreement is in addition to the existing Framework on Currency Swap Arrangement for SAARC countries. In March 2015, the RBI had signed a currency swap agreement with the same bank for $400 million under the SAARC currency swap framework within the overall limit of $2 billion. 2. RBI urges public from writing on banknotes - The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has urged public not to write on the watermark window of the banknotes as it helps in distinguishing the genuine notes from the fake ones. The RBI notification read,“ the watermark window has an important security feature which distinguishes it from a counterfeit note. Any defacement on the window will not allow the common man to identify one of the features of a genuine note.” Financial/Banking News 1. IDBI signs refinance agreement with MUDRA Bank - The state-run IDBI Bank signed an agreement with MUDRA Bank to refinance loans given to small enterprises. As per the agreement, the bank will offer credit facilities upto Rs.10 lakh to such enterprises, at a competitive interest rate under the Pradhan Mantri Mudra Yojana (PMMY) and MUDRA will provide refinance assistance to the bank for eligible sanctioned loans. 2. India, US sign agreement to share tax information – On July 9, India and the United States signed an inter-governmental agreement to implement the Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (FATCA) to promote transparency between the two coun- tries on tax matters. It is expected that the automatic information exchange on offshore accounts under FATCA would deter tax offenders, improve tax transparency, thereby bringing in higher equity into the direct tax regime, which is necessary for a healthy economy. 3. SBT NRI Family Card launched - The State Bank of Travancore (SBT) launched the 'SBT NRI Family Card', an exclusive card targeting non-resident Indians (NRIs). It enables a card-holder in India to receive remittance from an NRI by periodic re- charging via the NRI's internet banking account. 4. Exim Bank and New Development Bank ink an MoU - Export-Import Bank of India has signed a multilateral agreement with New Development Bank (NDB) promoted by BRICS nations — Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa. The MoU aims to share knowledge and best practices, building of capacity of personnel through project development skills, promotion of joint events and development of effective and sustainable financing solutions for projects of mutual interest. 5. India to attain 7.5% growth, says IMF - The International Monetary Fund (IMF) in its World Economic Outlook Update has said that India will be the world's fastest growing economy for the second consecutive year in 2015-16 with 7.5 per cent growth even as it decreased the nation’s current year global economy growth forecast to 3.3 per cent. 6. Indirect tax revenue rises 37.5% - Indirect tax collections (including excise, customs and service taxes) grew 37.5% during April-June 2015, a recap of the increase in the same quarter of 2014-15. Analysts believe that this year the government has achieved approximately 20 % of its budgeted target for indirect tax collections in the first three months itself. 7. BRICS Bank opens doors in China - The New Development Bank (NDB), conceptualized by the BRICS countries, for- mally began operations in its headquarters in Shanghai on July 21st. It will have an initial capital of USD 50 billion, that will be expanded to USD 100 billion within the next couple of years. NDB’s main aim is to finance infrastructure projects in emerging economies. 8. Government extends Interest Subvention to RRBs, public and private banks - Considering the uncertainty of monsoon and its impact on farmers, the Union Cabinet decided to lower interest rates offered to farmers for 2015-16 and increase budget allocated for interest subvention to Rs.18,110 crore. Of this, Rs.15,778 crore will be used to subsidise loans given by PSBs. The remaining amount will be used by the National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (Nabard) to refinance loans given by regional rural banks (RRBs) and cooperative banks. www.pagalguy.com www.pagalguy.com 9. India signs loan agreement with Asian Development Bank - India took a loan worth $300 million from the Asian Devel- opment Bank (ADB) to support the National Urban Health Mission (NUHM). It is ADB’s first health project loan in India, aimed at improving the urban population’s health status. The signatories also signed the accompanying capacity-building tech- nical assistance of USD 2 million, financed by the Japan Fund for Poverty Reduction. Important Committees Name of the Committee Objective of the committee 1. Deepak Mohanty Committee The RBI has constituted a committee to review the existing fi- nancial inclusion policy and work out a five-year measurable action plan for the same. It is to articulate policies and the in- stitutional framework for financial literacy and consumer pro- tection. It will also study mechanisms to financially aid households and small businesses, especially in rural areas, through group-based credit delivery mechanisms, among other activities. 2. BCCI ’s four -member panel (former Indian cricket team The four -member panel has been constituted to work on the captain Saurav Ganguly, BCCI Secretary Anurag Thakur, recommendations of Justice Lodha Committee and also draw BCCI's Treasurer Aniruddh Chaudhary and IPL chairman a roadmap for IPL 9. Rajeev Shukla. BCCI's legal head U N Banerjee will act as advisor) New Appointments - India and Abroad: INDIA 1. Neeraj Kumar - Appointed as the Chief Advisor of the Anti -Corruption and Security Unit (ACSU) of BCCI for the Twenty20 World Cup 2016 2. Pankaj Munjal - Appointed as the CMD of Hero Motors Group 3. Bhanu Pratap Sharma - Appointed as the Chairperson of Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) 4. Ananth Narayanan - Appointed as CEO Myntra, fashion store owned by Flipkart 5. R S Sharma - Appointed as the chairman of Telecom and Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) ABROAD 1. Eric Lange - Appointed as vice -president of Product Management, Flipkart 2. Maurice Obstfeld - Appointed as the Chief Economist at IMF www.pagalguy.com www.pagalguy.com Summits/Conferences around the World: (i) Oslo Education Summit - Oslo Education Summit aimed at creating "strong and renewed political commitment" for children without access to education, and to enhance understanding for those who attend school. 14 Noble laureates across the world led by India's Kailash Satyarthi appealed to the UN and he International community to contribute financially and invest in education to give children across the world a bright future. (ii) BRICS and SCO Summit - PM Narendra Modi in July, participated in BRICS and Shanghai Co-operation Organisation SCO summit in Ufa, Russia. The BRICS Summit saw discussions on how nations can enhance economic coopera- tion, establish a multi-currency financial order that reduces dependence the U.S. dollar and the Euro in global transactions, among other things. This was the sev- enth BRICS summit, some of the highlights are : . BRICS to create currency pool under Contingent Reserve Arrangement (CRA). Launch BRICS's New Development Bank. NDB & CRA to enable countries emerge from the shadow of the West's financial clout. To have direct transactions in local currencies. NDB to have opening capital of $100 billion. Founding members to equally share opening capital of $50 billion. CRA to have opening capacity of $100 billion. CRA will be based on currency swap among member countries. CRA to help members overcome short-term liquidity pressure. CRA to meet members' unexpected risks or balance of payment burdens. Deaths Name of Personality and Origin Field of work 1. Yogesh K Sabharwal (Indian) Former Chief Justice of India 2. Abdullah Hussain (Pakistani) Renowned Urdu novelist 3. M S Vishwanathan (Indian) Legendary music composer 4. Joan Sebastian (Mexican) Renowned Mexican musician 5. Jules Bianchi (French) F1 - Motorsport star who played for Marussia 6. Tom Moore Creator of the Archie Comics www.pagalguy.com www.pagalguy.com Name of Personality and Origin Field of work 7. P R Chari Noted supporter of nuclear disarmament 8. A P J Abdul Kalam Former Indian President New Books & Authors Title of the Book Author 1. Green Signal - Ecology, Growth & Democracy in India Jairam Ramesh 2. Ghosts of Calcutta Sebastian Ortiz Persons in news 1. APJ Abdul Kalam passes away - Former Indian President and one of India’s eminent scientist A P J Abdul Kalam (83), passed away on July 28th, 2015. He was distinguished in his field and had the honour of receiving doctorates from 30 uni- versities and institutions.