Current Affairs Sep 25, 2015

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01. Arvind Panagariya appointed as Sherpa for G-20 Summit: Aravind Panagariya, Vice-President of NITI Aayog has been appointed as the Sherpa for the 2015 G-20 summit to be held in Turkey, during November 2015. The Group of Twenty (G-20) , established in 1999 is an international forum, in which the Governments of the Nations of 20 major economies and Central Bank Governors of that particular nations are members. This forum focuses on promoting high-level policy issues related discussions to promote international financial permanence. Panagariya is an Indian-American economist having wide exposure in the field of economics. He has earlier worked in IMF and World Bank, in various capacities.

02. RBI relaxes norms for change in ownership norms of borrowing entities: RBI has announced relaxation in norms and as per the relaxed norms, the banks can classify the loans to stressed companies that have undergone ownership changes as standard loans, subject to the condition that the stress was due to operational or managerial inefficiencies. Further, as per the new norms, the new promoter should not be a person or an entity which belongs to the existing promoter / promoter group. Such new promoter should have acquired at least 51 % paid up equity capital of the borrower company.

03. Employees’ Provident Fund Organization (EPFO) bags Skoch Award: EPFO has won the Skoch Award for Smart Governance for its initiatives on UAN program and transformation of social security agenda in India. Skoch Smart Awards are given away for Government organizations and organizations working with the government in the areas of health, education, rural / urban development, finance and security.

04. Special Assistance of Rs.1000 crores announced by the Union Government to Andhra Pradesh: Union Government has announced special assistance of Rs.1000 crores to the state of Andhra Pradesh for various developmental projects in the current fiscal. The amount will be used mainly for development projects in the backward districts of the state and construction of its new capital city. The amount will also be utilized for Polavaram irrigation project.

05.’Uninor’ becomes ‘telenor’: The telecom service provider Uninor has re-branded itself as ‘Telenor’, for which it has allotted a budget of Rs.100 crores. Presently Telenor has service in seven states including Gujarat, Bihar, Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh. Telenor is a noted brand name in Norway in the telecommunication sector.

06. Sourav Ganguly dons new cap: Former Indian cricketer Ganguly has been nominated as the President of Cricket Association of Bengal (CAB). Prior to this appointment, he was the Joint Secretary of the association. CAB is the nodal governing body for cricket in West Bengal.

07. Amitabh Bachchan joins petroleum ministry’s ‘give it up’ movement: Veteran Hindi actor, Amitabh Bachchan has joined the ‘give it up’ movement for giving up LPG subsidy. Prime Minister Modi had earlier launched the forfeiture of subsidy movement and so far 30 lakh people have surrendered their LPG subsidy so far. Government has announced that the money saved through this movement will be utilized for providing LPG connections to poor households.

08. Governance reform is number one priority Modi: PM Modi has said during the course of his meeting with a group of top American CEO that governance reform is number one priority. During the meeting, he highlighted the fact that FDI all over the world has fallen, but in India, it has increased by 40%

09. RBI states that no action will be taken under FEMA against declarants of black money: In a move to encourage disclosure of undeclared assets held abroad, RBI has said that no action under the Foreign Exchange Management Act (FEMA) would be taken against those who declare the details and worth of the assets held by them abroad under one-time compliance window, which will be closed on September 30th. The rules framed under the new law provides for exemption from prosecution under FEMA to those who disclose their assets.

10. FICCI to join hands with Indian Government for ‘Win India 2015’ : FICCI will be entering into partnership with Department of Heavy Industries, Government of India to execute the partnership for ‘Win India 2015’ which will focus on promoting India’s high-tech engineering and capital goods manufacturing industry, as a part of ‘Make in