Important Current Affairs 31st May 2016

SBI Becomes Top Merchant Acquiring Bank

1. State Bank of India has become the top merchant acquiring bank in the country.
2. It has 2.96 lakh installed point-of-sale (PoS) terminals as of February 2016.
3. SBI is followed by HDFC Bank (2.81 lakh), Axis Bank (2.58 lakh) & ICICI Bank (2 lakh), the RBI data showed.
4. These four banks together contribute to more than three-fourths of the total 13.63 lakh PoS terminals deployed in the country.

Govt Notifies Panel to Revise Metro Fares

1. The Union Ministry of Urban Development has notified a fare fixation committee (FFC) for recommending revised fares of Delhi Metro.
2. The panel will be headed by a former Delhi High Court judge ML Mehta.
3. The other members of the 4th FFC are Urban Development Ministry Additional Secretary, Durga Shanker Mishra & Delhi Chief Secretary, KK Sharma.
4. DMRC fares were previously revised in 2009.

Sunil Lanba Takes Charge as Navy Chief

1. Admiral Sunil Lanba took power as the new Chief of the Naval Staff as the outgoing Chief of the Naval Staff Admiral R.K. Dhowan superannuated from service.
2. Lanba is a qualified specialist in navigation & direction course.
3. He has served in a variety of Command, operational & staff appointments.
4. He has commanded four frontline warships, INS Kakinada, INS Himgiri, INS Ranvijay & INS Mumbai.

Veteran Actor Suresh Chatwal Passes Away

1. Television & Film actor Suresh Chatwal who was famous for his role as officer in television show FIR passed away.
2. Chatwal made his acting debut in the year 1969 with Rakhi & was seen in films like Karan Arjun, Koyla & Munna Bhai MBBS.
3. The actor was known for commendable acting skills.
4. He was last seen on the big screen in Nakshatra in 2010.

North Korea Missile Test Launch Fails

1. North Korea attempted to fire a missile from its east coast early but the launch appears to have failed.
2. The type of missile was unclear but it follows three failed tests of the Musudan missile in April.
3. A Musudan missile has the range to reach the US territory of Guam; however the North has never successfully tested one.
4. The North is banned by the UN from using any ballistic missile technology.

Govt. Expands Programme Indradhanush

1. The Indradhanush programme,which provides immunisation against 7 life threatening diseases is expected to expand.
2. 4 new vaccines have been added into it.
3. The seven vaccine preventable diseases which include diphtheria,whooping cough,tetanus,polio,tuberculosis,measles & Hepatitis B.
4. The new vaccines are rotavirus,measles rubella,inactivated polio vaccine & Japanese Encephalitis for adults.

Cook Youngest To Score 10,000 Test Runs

1. England captain Alastair Cook has become the youngest player to score 10,000 Test runs.
2. He broke Sachin Tendulkar’s record & became the youngest to reach 10,000 runs in Tests on the 4th day of the second Test against Sri Lanka.
3. He became the first England player to reach the landmark of 10,000 runs
4. He became the 12th batsman overall to reach the milestone & he achieved it in his 128th Test.

Now Ministers Can Approve 500cr Proposal

1. Ministers can now approve non- plan expenditure proposals of up to Rs 500 crore.
2. Earlier, the minister had powers to approve proposals up to Rs 150 crore.
3. As per the new directives, competent authority to approve project between Rs 75 crore & Rs 500 crore will be the minister-in-charge of the ministry or department.
4. Proposals up to Rs. 75 crore can be approved by the secretary of the department.

India Ranks 41st on Competitiveness

1. India has moved up three spots from last year to 41 on the IMD World Competitiveness Scoreboard, 2016.
2. The country’s ranking had fallen to 44 in 2015 from 35 in 2012.
3. Hong Kong replaced the US as the world’s most competitive economy.
4. The rankings are based on about 340 criteria grouped under four broad heads – economic performance, government efficiency, business efficiency & infrastructure.

India Own Submarine Workshop Inaugurated

1. Indian Navy, defence minister Manohar Parrikar has inaugurated a state-of-the-art submarine assembly workshop at the Mazgaon Dock Shipbuilders Limited.
2. The workshop was built at a cost of Rs153 crore &is capable of building five submarines concurrently.
3. The workshop has features such as rain water harvesting, sewage treatment plan & grey water treatment plant.