Current Affairs 4-5th May, 2015

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Current Affairs 5th May, 2015

1. Finance ministry has initiated the process of identifying retired bureaucrats and bankers who could be appointed as non-executive chairmen of various public sector banks (PSBs).

2. West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee has launched a sanitation drive with a different name — Mission Nirmal Bangla. On April 30, Nadia became the first district in India to get the open defecation-free (ODF) status.

3. The NIC has developed an application which will allow visitors to register themselves online from anywhere and walk in through central ministries and departments with an ‘e-pass’.

4. Finance Minister Arun Jaitley on Monday sought "deeper engagement" of the Asian Development Bank (ADB) for development of smart cities, industrial corridors and railways as part of flagship initiatives such as 'Make In India' and 'Skill India'.

5. Former Hewlett-Packard chief executive officer Carly Fiorina is running for United States' president, joining a crowded field for the Republican nomination.

Current Affairs 4th May, 2015

1. The Centre has approved the long-standing demand of Indian scientists that the country be an associate member of CERN (European Organisation for Nuclear Research). Currently, India has observer status in CERN, which has 21 member states.

2. Finance ministry is likely to release a reworked draft model bilateral investment treaty (BIT). The draft model BIT had proposed to make it difficult for foreign companies to seek arbitration against Indian authorities, through restrictions on dispute-resolution tribunals and their jurisdiction.

3. Finance Minister Arun Jaitley proposed that there should be a separate form for expats. The separate Income tax return ITR form for foreign nationals is expected to drop details such as the dates of opening foreign bank accounts.

4. SEBI plans to introduce an electronic, or e-KYC, format that will provide an option of conducting in-person verification (IPV) through webcams. The e-KYC process will streamline and simplify processes.

5. Government has drafted the Small Factories (Regulation of Employment and Conditions of Services) Bill, which is meant to keep small factories out of the ambit of certain major labour laws. Small factories are those that employ upto 40 workers.