Important Current Affairs 29th June 2016

Vishwanathan Appointed RBI Deputy Gov

1. NS Vishwanathan has been appointed as Deputy Governor of the Reserve Bank of India,
2. The Appointments Committee of Cabinet, headed by PM Modi, has approved of Vishwanathan’s appointment.
3. He will take over from H.R. Khan, who retires on 3 July.
4. Vishwanathan has been executive director at RBI since 2014.
5. Urjit Patel, S.S. Mundra & R. Gandhi are the other three deputy governors at present.

PF Body Plans to Cover All by 2030

1. The Employees Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO) aims to cover all the workers in the country under provident fund (PF), pension & life insurance by 2030.
2. The retirement fund body has set itself this ambitious target in its vision document.
3. The vision also talks about online services for all EPFO benefits with state-of-the-art technology.

Tata Comm Sells Neotel for $428 m

1. Tata Communications has sold its South African telecom arm Neotel to Liquid Telecom & Royal Bafokeng Holdings for an enterprise value of $428 million or ₹2,904 crore.
2. Tata Communications holds a 68 per cent stake in the company.
3. The move is part of Tata Communications’ game plan to reduce its debt of nearly $1.5 billion.
4. Tata Communications had acquired the Neotel stake in 2006.

Nestlé Appoint Ulf Mark Schneider as CEO

1. Food & Beverage multinational Nestle has named Ulf Mark Schneider as its next Chief Executive Officer (CEO).
2. Mr. Schneider is the chief executive of Germany-based Fresenius SE & will succeed current CEO Paul Bulcke.
3. He will assume the role of chief executive at Nestle at the start of 2017.
4. Mr. Schneider will be the first outsider to run Nestlé since 1922.

Made in China Jetliner Makes 1st Flight

1. The first regional jet produced by a Chinese govt initiative to compete in the commercial aircraft market has made its debut flight.
2. The ARJ21—700 jet or Asian Regional Jet for the 21st Century operated by Chengdu Airlines made the two-hour flight from the western city of Chengdu to Shanghai with 70 passengers.
3. China is one of the biggest aviation markets but relies on foreign made aircraft.

Hockey Team Jumps to 5th in FIH Rankings

1. The International Hockey Federation (FIH) has released the latest World Rankings.
2. Following the conclusion of the Champions Trophies 2016 in London India have climbed to the No. 5 spot.
3. Champions Trophy 2016 winners Australia remain at the top of the men’s rankings.
4. The Netherlands hold on to top spot in the women’s hockey rankings while the Indian women remained 13th.

Rajput wins silver in ISSF World Cup

1. Ace shooter Sanjeev Rajput clinched the silver medal for India in men’s 50-metre rifle 3 position event of the ISSF World Cup in Baku.
2. Rajput shot 456.9 to win the silver medal.
3. Croatia’s Petar Gorsa won the gold medal with 457.5 while Hyeonjun Kim of Korea bagged the bronze after he shot 445.5.
4. The ISSF World Cup are governed by the International Shooting Sport Federation.

Inter-State Senior Athletic C’ship Begin

1. 56th National Inter-State Senior Athletics Championships, a qualifying event for the Rio Olympics begin in Hyderabad.
2. As many as 744 athletes, including 264 women from 26 states will take part in the five-day event.
3. A Sri Lankan relay team will also take part in the event in its bid to attain the Rio qualification.
4. This is the fourth time that senior Nationals have held in Hyderabad.

Anand Honoured with “Honoris Causa”

1. Five-time World Champion Viswanathan Anand was conferred the “Honoris Causa” Doctor of Science by Indian Institute Of Technology (IIT) during its 49th convocation ceremony in Kanpur.
2. He was bestowed with the degree by NITI aayog chairman Arvind Panagariya in Kanpur.
3. Viswanathan Anand became India’s first grandmaster in 1988.
4. He was also the first recipient of the Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna Award.

PM Releases Book on Species of Birds

1. PM Modi has released a book titled “The Birds of Banni Grassland” in New Delhi.
2. The book was presented to the PM by the Scientists of Gujarat Institute of Desert Ecology (GUIDE).
3. It is a compilation of the research work relating to more than 250 species of birds found in the Banni area of Kutch,Gujarat.
4. The GUIDE located at Bhuj has been studying the plant,bird &marine life in the Rann of Kutch.

India Ranks 105th on Human Capital Index

1. India was ranked low at 105th out of the total 130 countries included in the index on a worldwide Human Capital Index.
2. The index was topped by Finland, Pakistan ranks lower at 118th place.
3. Human Capital Index measures countries’ ability to nurture, develop and deploy talent for economic growth.
4. The index was released by Geneva-based World Economic Forum (WEF)

FSSAI Signs Pact with ASCI

1. The Food Safety &Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) has signed a MoU with the Advertising Standards Council of India (ASCI) to increase monitoring on misleading advertisements in the food &beverages (F&B) sector.
2. From now on,ASCI can  process complaints against misleading F&B advertisers.
3. If advertisers fail to comply with ASCI’s suggestions,the council can approach FSSAI which can take action.

Majuli Becomes India 1st Island District

1. Assam Chief Ministe Sarbananda Sonowal in its first cabinet meeting decided to grant district status to Majuli, a 400sqkm island in the river Brahmaputra.
2. Sonowal had won the assembly election this year from Majuli ,a constituency reserved for scheduled tribes.
3. The Majuli now a sub-division of Jorhat district will become the 34th district of Assam.
4. It is the biggest river island in the world.

Naga Leader Isak Chisi Swu Passes Away

1. Naga leader Isak Chisi Swu , who led one of the worst insurgencies in the North-East for almost three decades passed away.
2. He was a founder member of the Nationalist Socialist Council of Nagaland (Isak-Muivah).
3. He had signed a framework agreement with the Centre on August 3 last year to find a permanent solution to the Naga issue.
4. NSCN aims to establish a ‘Greater Nagaland’.

Titan’s Founding MD Xerxes Desai Dies

1. Xerxes Desai, the first managing director of India’s largest watch maker Titan has passed away.
2. Desai is credited with introducing the country to its first quartz watch three decades ago.
3. He set up Titan in 1986 with support from the Tamil Nadu government.
4. He joined Tata Administrative Service in 1961 after graduating from Oxford University.
5. He worked with Tata Press, Tata Chemicals & Taj Hotels.

Agri Min Launches App for Bihar Farmers

1. Agriculture Minister Radha Mohan Singh has released an app, Crop Manager for Rice-based Systems (CMRS).
2. CMRS provides irrigated & rainfed farmers with rice-based cropping systems in Bihar with a crop & nutrient management guidelines .
3. CMRS was verified in Bihar through collaboration of Indian Rice Research Institute (IRRI) with the Indian Council for Agricultural Research- RCER (ICAR).

MoU Signed for Coal Quality Analysis

1. The CSIR- Central Institute of Mining and Fuel Research (CSIR-CIMFR) has signed a MoU with coal supplying companies & power utilities for quality analysis of coal being supplied to power utilities.
2. The MoU was signed in presence of Science &Tech Minister Dr Harsh Vardhan & Power Minister Piyush Goyal.
3. The CSIR-CIMFR would support in maintaining the quality of coal for the entire power sector.

Panel to Solve Gumnami Baba Mystery

1. The Uttar Pradesh government has set up a judicial commission to probe the identity of Gumnami Baba.
2. The ascetic lived in eastern UP’s Faizabad till 1985, and many believe he was Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose.
3. Justice Vishnu Sahai will head the one-man commission, which is to submit its report in six months.
4. The panel was set up after an Allahabad high court order.

Lord Paul Presented with Key to US’ City

1. Leading NRI industrialist Lord Swraj Paul has been honoured for his contribution to St Louis in the US state of Missouri with the mayor presenting him with the key to the city.
2. He was honoured by Mayor Francis Slay for the commitment & investment in the St Louis.
3. Paul was on a visit to Bull Moose Industries, the division of the Paul family’s Caparo business headquartered in the city.

UN Elect New Members to Security Council

1. The UN General Assembly has elected Sweden, Kazakhstan, Ethiopia and Bolivia as new members of the United Nations Security Council.
2. The Netherlands & Italy agreed to split the two-year term after they were tied with 95 votes each.
3. Countries need more than two-thirds of the vote to win a seat.
4. The UNSC is made up of 10 elected members – five voted on each year & five permanent veto-powers.