Important Current Affairs 21st June 2016

Govt Allows 100% FDI in Defence, Aviation

1. The govt has relaxed foreign direct investment (FDI) norms for a host of important sectors including defence, civil aviation & pharmaceuticals.
2. It has allowed up to 100% FDI in defence,food product e-commerce, greenfield pharma &100% FDI in scheduled airlines up to 49% FDI in airlines through automatic route.
3. FDI in defence beyond 49% was already allowed through approval route.

Govt Retains Small Saving Rates

1. Govt has kept interest rates unchanged for various small savings schemes for the July-Oct quarter.
2. The Finance Ministry has kept the interest rate on one-year deposits for July-Oct unchanged at 7.1%.
3. The interest rates on PPF, Kisan Vikas Patra & SukanyaSamriddhi were kept at 8.1%, 7.8% & 8.6% respectively.
4. In Feb this year,the govt had decided that small savings rate will be set quarterly.

Ujjwala Yojana Launched in Odisha

1. Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana (PMUY) to provide LPG connections was launched in Odisha.
2. It is planned to increase the number of LPG customers in Odisha to 80 lakh by Dec 2018.
3. The scheme has already been launched by the Centre in Gujarat, M.P. &Rajasthan.
4. The launch of the scheme is part of the Centre’s plan to provide LPG connections to five crore BPL families across the country by 2019.

FSSAI Bans Use of Potassium Bromate

1. The govt has banned use of potassium bromate as a food additive following a CSE study that found its presence in bread causing cancer.
2. The govt issued the ban after the regulator’s recommendations to the Health Ministry based on the CSE study.
3. According to Centre for Science & Environment (CSE) study potassium bromate typically leads to higher rising & uniform finish to baked products.

China Builds World’s Fastest Computer

1. A new Chinese computer system that can make 93 quadrillions calculations per second has claimed the top spot on the list of the world’s most powerful supercomputers.
2. The computer called Sunway TaihuLight was developed by the National Research Centre of Parallel Computer Engineering & Technology.
3. It is intended for use in engineering & research including climate, weather & data analytics.

Twitter Buys Magic Pony Technology

1. Twitter Inc has acquired London-based Magic Pony Technology.
2. Magic Pony is a machine-learning startup that specializes in working with images, to deliver better video & picture content.
3. It specializes in creating algorithms that can understand pictures.
4. The acquisition is Twitter’s third in the machine-learning space in three years.
5. It has acquired Whetlab in 2014 & Madbits in 2015.

Axar Patel Jumps to 13th in ICC Rankings

1. Indian spinner Axar Patel jumped 20 places to 13 in the latest ICC Rankings for ODI bowlers.
2. Patel is now just 3 places behind India’s highest-ranked bowler Ravichandran Ashwin.
3. West Indian spinner Sunil Narine has returned to his number-one position.
4. AB de Villiers is the number-one ranked batsman according to the new ICC batting table.
5. He is followed by Virat Kohli while Hashim Amla is third.

Punjab Govt Launches Fund for HepatitisC

1. Punjab CM Parkash Singh Badal has launched a special fund called Mukh Mantri Punjab Hepatitis C Relief Fund to provide free treatment for patients affected by Hepatitis C.
2. Punjab has become the first state in the country to provide free treatment.
3. It has created a special fund with an initial contribution of Rs 20 crore.
4. Hepatitis C is an infectious disease that primarily affects the liver.

Govt Sets Terms for PPF Withdrawal

1. The Finance Ministry has said subscribers of the Public Provident Fund (PPF) can prematurely close the deposit scheme after completing five years.
2. Subscriber can premature close his account for reasons such as higher education or expenditure towards medical treatment on production of supporting documents.
3. Premature closure shall be allowed only after the account has completed five financial yrs.

21st June: International Yoda Day

1. The second International Day of Yoga was on 21 June 2016 observed across the world.
2. PM Modi joined over 30,000 people for the Yoga Day celebrations being held in Chandigarh.
3. Recognizing its universal appeal, on 11 Dec 2014, the United Nations proclaimed 21 June as International Yoga Day.
4. International Yoga Day aims to raise awareness worldwide of the many benefits of practicing yoga.