31 July 2015 Daily Current affairs / GK / GA : Central Government to infuse capital to the tune of Rs 20,000 crore in public sector banks, Financial Services Secretary Hasmukh Adhia said. 50%, or Rs 10,000 crore of this money will find its way to “weak” banks.
- This money is likely to strengthen balance sheets of banks reeling with high non-performing assets and bad loans.
- In his union budget for the fiscal presented in February, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley had said that the government has earmarked slightly under Rs 8000 crore for capital infusion purposes for the current year.
- The finance ministry is setting up a rating system for public sector banks where their performance will be measured.
- Still in the planning stage, some of the criteria that are under discussion for the rating are the number of Jan Dhan accounts and financial inclusion programmes that banks have implemented, and the quantum of retail advances undertaken by them against their corporate advances.
- Under this method, a higher rated bank will enjoy equity support from the government unlike the practice earlier when government used to support the weaker banks with equity erosion.
Rajendra Srivastava, will be the next Dean of Indian School of Business (ISB) with effect from January 1, 2016.
- It was announced by Adi Godrej, Chairman of the ISB Board, here on Friday.
- Srivastava will succeed Ajit Rangnekar, the outgoing Dean, who has held this position since January 2009.
- Prior to SMU, he held distinguished research chairs and senior management positions at the University of Texas at Austin and Emory University in Atlanta.
- He has an MBA and PhD (Business Administration) from the University of Pittsburgh, an MS in Industrial Engineering from the University of Rhode Island, and a B.Tech (Mechanical Engineering) from the Indian Institute of Technology, Kanpur.
BHEL signs three strategic agreements with Kazakhstan companies in order to deepen its roots in Central Asia.
- BHEL will work with JSU on projects of mutual interest; JSU is the national power utility of Kazakhstan having a major share in the Kazakh power sector.
- BHEL will work with KUS in the energy sector for design and construction of power plants. KUS is one of the largest utility companies in the Kazakh power sector specifically work in power generation; transmission and sale of heat and electricity. It is owned by the $ 9 billion assets Ordabassy Group.
- BHEL will work with Kaznex Invest for co-operation in executing projects in Kazakhstan.
- Kaznex Invest works under the Ministry of Investments and Development of Kazakhstan, it is national export and investment agency of Kazakhstan.
RBI on 30 July 2015 decided to put into circulation 10 rupees coins to commemorate the International Day of Yoga. The coins have been minted by the Government of India.
The design details of these coins are:
Obverse of the coin bears the Lion Capitol of Ashoka Pillar in the center with the legend “सत्यमेव जयते” inscribed below, flanked on the left periphery with the word “भारत” in Devnagri script and on the right periphery flanked with the word “INDIA” in English.
- It also bears the Rupee ₹ symbol and denominational value “10” in the international numerals below the Lion Capitol.
Reverse of the coin bears the logo of “International Day of Yoga”, with inscription “सामंजस्य एवं शान्ति के लिए योग” in Devnagri Script and “YOGA FOR HARMONY AND PEACE” around the logo and design.
- The date “21 JUNE” is written at the bottom of the logo. The inscription “अंतर्राष्ट्रीय योग दिवस” in Devnagri script on left periphery and “INTERNATIONAL DAY OF YOGA” in English on the right periphery is written on this side of the coin. The year “2015” is written on the lower periphery in international numerals exactly below the logo.
- These coins are legal tender as provided in The Coinage Act 2011. The existing coins in this denomination will also continue to be legal tender.
Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion (DIPP) has given its approval to Asian Development Bank’s (ADB) and Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) for their conceptual development plan (CDP) report on Vizag Chennai Industrial Corridor (VCIC) and Chennai-Bengaluru Industrial Corridor (CBIC) respectively.
- On 22 April 2015, Andhra Pradesh government approved to take loan assistance from ADB for the development of proposed Visakhapatnam-Chennai Industrial Corridor (VCIC) project.
- The conceptual development plan report was in pipeline to receive nod from DIPP to carry forward it’s on ground development.
- VCIC is envisaged from Kolkata to Tuticorin (in Tamil Nadu) also known as East Coast Economic Corridor (ECEC).
- ECEC in its first phase focuses on the Vizag-Chennai section which runs from Vishakhapatnam (Vizag), Andhra Pradesh to Chennai, Tamil Nadu.
- The recent report sanctioned by DIPP includes development of three industrial nodes in first phase they are; Krishnapatnam (Andhra Pradesh), Tumkur( Karnataka) and Ponneri ( Tamil Nadu).
Attempt : IBPS Clerk 2015 prelims mock test
India to become the most populous nation in the world by surpassing China in 2022 according to UN report titled ‘World Population Prospects: The 2015 Revision’.
- India will become most populous nation, six years earlier than it was previously forecasted and will retain the top spot till year 2100.
- At present, China which is world’s populous country with approximately 1.38 billion population while, India has 1.31 billion.
- India’s population around and after 2022, is projected to grow for several decades. It will be around to 1.5 billion in 2030 and 1.7 billion in 2050.
