CA Bits
Current Affairs Bits - Mid Monthly
Reserve Bank has imposed a penalty of Rs
1 crore on an SBI associate bank, State
Bank of Travancore, for violation of some
of its instructions.
Justice RM Lodha Committee submitted its
report to Supreme Court. Recommended
legalisation of betting in IPL.
Wipro names Abidali Neemuchwala as
CEO
Several heavily armed terrorists belonging
to Jaish-e-Mohammed, an Islamist militant
group, on 2 January 2016
attacked Pathankot Air Force Station, part
of the Western Air Command of the Indian
Air Force (IAF).
Earthquake 6.7 hits North East India.
Epicenter located 40 km from Imphal.
Government of Telangana on 2 January
2016 launched e-Vahan Bima Scheme to
issue motor insurance policy in digital
form.
World Braille Day observed on 4 January.
Jinnah Often Came To Our
House Authored by Kiran Doshi released
by Vice President.
India on 3 January 2016 won of the South
Asian Football Federation Cup
(SAFF) championships
defeating Afghanistan.
Ian Murdock, best known for founding one
of the world's best known Linux
distributions, passed away on 28
December 2015 in San Francisco.
Andhra Bank has announced it is
launching Immediate Payment Service
(IMPS) across branches to provide inter-
bank electronic transfer service, capable of
processing person to account remittances.
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January, 2016
Internet and Mobile Association of India
(IAMAI) has named Kunal Shah, co-
founder and chief executive officer
of FreeCharge as the new chairman of the
association.
Professional networking platform LinkedIn
appointed Akshay Kothari as Country Ma
nager for India, with immediate effect.
Pranav Dhanawade became the first
batsman to score 1000-plus runs in an
innings in any form of cricket
Mary Barra elected as first Woman
Chairman of General Motors Board of
Directors.
Ex-Chief Justice of India Sarosh Homi
Kapadia passed away on 4 January 2016 in
Mumbai.
Department of Posts on 1 January 2016
formed a one-man committee headed
by Kamlesh Chandra to study issues
related to Gramin Dak Sevaks including
wage structure and service conditions.
India-Nepal Bus Service on 4 January 2016
resumed after a gap of 27 years. The
service was suspended 27 years ago in the
wake of the Indo-Nepal Trade and Transit
Treaty.
State election commissioner
(SEC) Ashok Kumar Chauhan on 4 January
2016 announced that toilets will be
mandatory requirement for eligibility to
contest panchayat elections.
Bharat Heavy Electricals Ltd has
announced it has commissioned the first
600 MW coal-based Kakatiya Thermal
Power Plant in Telangana.
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 CA Bits

The Union Cabinet has given its approval Reserve Bank of India has permitted bank
for the creation of a Credit Guarantee branches in International Financial
Fund for Micro Units Development Services Centres (IFSC) to open foreign
Refinance Agency (MUDRA) loans.
currency current accounts for entities
Approval has also been given
for converting MUDRA Ltd into MUDRA operating in IFSC. Banking regulator also
Small Industries Development Bank of lifted limit on short term liabilities IBUs
India (SIDBI) Bank as a wholly owned could have from banks. The rules have
subsidiary of SIDBI. been eased to facilitate investment
transactions and give flexibility in
The central government has approved an operations. These bank branches are
assistance of Rs 815 crore for Odisha for
termed as IFSC Banking Units (IBUs).
drought relief operations. The state
government had submitted
India is projected to grow by a robust 7.8
a memorandum amounting to Rs 2,199.06
crore to the Government of India for per cent this year and 7.9 per cent in the
management of Drought-2015. next two years, the World Bank forecast
citing strong investor sentiment and the
The Union Cabinet on 6 January 2016 positive effect on real incomes of the
approved the Stand Up India recent fall in oil prices.
Scheme to promote entrepreneurship
among Scheduled Caste/Scheduled Tribes Delhi Government on 6 January
and Women entrepreneurs. It provides for 2016 scrapped the management quota
refinance window through Small
and all other quotas,
Industries Development Bank of India
(SIDBI) with an initial amount of 10000 in private schools for nursery admissions.
crore rupees. There will be only 25 percent reservation
for economically weaker sections and the
The Union Minister of Water Resources, rest 75 percent will be made available to
River Development and Ganga the general public.
Rejuvenation Uma Bharti on 5 January
2016 launched Ganga Gram Yojana at Bollywood star Priyanka Chopra has
Village Puth in Hapur district of Uttar bagged the favourite actress in new TV
Pradesh (UP).
series honour at the 2016 People Choice
Sambalpur University conferred Awards for her performance of an FBI
the prestigious Gangadhar National recruit on American show "Quantico".
Award for Poetry -2014 on noted Bengali With this she became the first South-Asian
poet Subodh Sarkar. actress to win a Peoples Choice Award.

Sam Pitroda, former chairman of the INS Kadmatt, anti-submarine warfare

National Knowledge Commission and ex- corvette, commissioned
adviser to the prime minister, has
been appointed technology advisor of
Dr Achyuta Samanta was on 6 January
Odisha.
2016 elected as the General President of
the 105th Indian Science Congress

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Association (ISCA) that is scheduled for
2017-18.
Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Mufti
Mohammad Sayeed passed away on 7
January 2016 at the AIIMS hospital in New
Delhi. He was 79.
The Reserve Bank of India Governor
Raghuram Rajan on 7 January 2016 was
felicitated with the Central Banker of the
Year Award (Global and Asia Pacific) for
2016. The award was given by the Financial
Times Group's monthly
publication The Banker.
Azim Premji, who donated Rs 27,514 crore
for education is the "Most Generous
Indian" for the third year running followed
by Nandan Nilekani and Narayana Murth
y in the second and third place,
respectively as per the Hurun India
Philanthropy List.
The Union Government on 7 January
2016 merged the Ministry of Overseas
Indian Affairs (MOIA) with the Ministry of
External Affairs (MEA) in keeping with its
broad principle of Minimum Government,
Maximum Governance.
Amitabh Kant was on 7 January
2016 appointed as the Chief Executive
Officer (CEO) of NITI Aayog.
The Union Government on 8 January
2016 allowed the conduct of the
traditional bull-taming sports, Jallikattu,
in Tamil Nadu.
The Union Ministry of Urban Development
(MoUD) on 7 January 2016 approved the
Atal Mission for Rejuvenation and Urban
Transformation (AMRUT) for Punjab and
Uttarakhand for the year 2015-16.
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CA Bits
India and France on 8 January 2016 started
their eight-day counter-terrorism and
counter-insurgency joint exercise Shakti-
2016 in Rajasthan.
GMR Group Chairman G.M. Rao was
honoured with the
Bulandh Bharath Award for his
exemplary contributions towards nation
building.
Bengal Aerotropolis Projects Limited
(BAPL) signed two pacts for air services and
bus manufacturing on the last day of
Bengal Global Business Summit here . The
first MoU was signed with Bhutan's Druk
Air for operating flights from Andal to
Durgapur, Bagdogra, Bhutan and onwards
to Singapore. The second MoU is for bus
manufacturing at Andal in Burdwan
district with China's Zhongtong Bus
Holding Company.
The French soldiers will march down the
Rajpath on Republic Day along with Indian
troops in the presence of President
Francois Hollande. Hollande is the Chief
Guest for 26 January 2016 celebrations.
This is the first time that a foreign army
will participate in the 26th January
Parade, since 1950.
The government re-appointed Urjit Patel
as the deputy governor of Reserve Bank of
India for a three-year term. Patel is the
fourth deputy governor, the other three
being HR Khan, R Gandhi and SS Mundra.
Sania Mirza and Martina Hingis won 2016
with WTA Brisbane title
Nick Kyrgios and Daria Gavrilova had
singles wins over Ukraine to lead Australia
Green to the Hopman Cup, the countrys
first title in the mixed teams event in 17
years.
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Rashtriya Ispat Nigam Ltd, the
Visakhapatnam steel plant, has signed an
MoU with the Andhra Pradesh
Government for an investment of around
Rs. 38,500 crore in various projects.
HDFC Life has set up a wholly-owned
subsidiary in the Dubai International
Financial Centre (DIFC) called the 'HDFC
International Life and Re Company Limited'
(HILRCL) with an initial capital outlay of
$12.33 million.
Binny Bansal appointed as new CEO of
Flipart, Sachin Bansal as Executive
Chairman
Ashish Saraf appointed as vice-president
of Airbus India
DRDO successfully test fired New Tank
Ammunition for Arjun Main Battle Tank
Vice-President Hamid Ansari dedicated to
the nation the K R Narayanan Institute of
Visual Sciences and Arts, a first of its kind
imitative of the Kerala government at
nearby Thekkumithala.
73rd Annual Golden Globe Awards
announced in California. The Revenant
won the Best Motion Picture Drama
while best Actor and best Director Awards
were conferred to Leonardo DiCaprio and
Alejandro Inarritu for the same movie.
Brie Larson won the best actress award for
The Martian Movie.
Nepal on 9 January 2016 was elected to
the UNICEF executive board, representing
the group of Asia-Pacific countries for the
term 2016-2018.
The 11th World Hindi Day was celebrated
on 10 January 2016.
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CA Bits
Maria Teresa de Filippis, the first woman
to compete in a world championship
Formula One grand prix, passed away on 8
January 2016 in Italy.
National Youth Day was observed across
India on 12 January 2016 to mark the 153rd
birth anniversary of Swami Vivekananda
who was Indias foremost social reformer,
philosopher and thinker.
The Employees Provident Fund
Organisation has won the National Award
on e-Governance 2015-16 for launching
the Universal Account Number (UAN).
PwC India has set up a centre of
excellence (CoE) for forensics in
Hyderabad. The CoE, with a trained team
of over 100 professionals in India, plans to
hire 150 more due diligence and anti-
money laundering professionals in the
next one year. This facility will provide
clients with solutions related to anti-
money laundering compliance, third-party
due diligence, e-mail and document
review, and investigation support.
SBI said it is planning to monetise non-core
assets and list some of its subsidiaries for
meeting capital needs as well as global risk
norms, Basel III, which will kick in from
March 2019.
Barcelona forward Lionel Messi on 11
January 2016 won the Ballon d'Or trophy
for the worlds best football player for the
fifth time overall.
Additional Secretary in the Steel Ministry
Bharathi S Sihag has been given the
additional charge of Chairman-cum-
Managing Director (CMD) of state-rum
iron ore miner NMDC, with effect from
January 1, 2016.
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Scientists at Central Institute for Research
on Buffaloes (CIRB) in Hisar on 10 January
2016 claimed to have successfully
produced a cloned buffalo offspring Cirb
Gaurav.
The Nati folk dance of Kullu district of
Himachal Pradesh in second week of
January 2016 was listed in the Guinness
Book of World Records as the largest folk
dance in the world.
Union Railway Minister Suresh Prabhakar
Prabhu on 11 January 2016 inaugurated
implementation of E-enabled Track
Management System (TMS) and Mobile
Application of TMS on Indian Railway at
Rail Bhawan in New Delhi.
Telangana became the first State in India
to introduce compulsory gender
education at the graduate level. In this
regard, the state in second week of January
2016 introduced a bilingual textbook titled,
Towards a World of Equals.
Govt unveils Rs-8,800 cr crop insurance
scheme Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima
Yojana (PMFBY)
Country's largest lender SBI has opened a
branch in Seoul, South Korea to
predominantly finance growing trade and
investment relations between Korean and
Indian companies. SBI is second Indian
bank after Indian Overseas Bank to have
branch in South Korea. Meanwhile, SBI has
signed a Line of Credit with The Export-
Import Bank of Korea (K-EXIM) for $ 500
million (Rs 3,300 crore).
India is the largest recipient of loans from
the World Bank, amounting to $102.1
billion, between 1945 and 2015 (as on July
21, 2015), according to the Banks lending
report.
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CA Bits
Vice President Hamid Ansari declared
Kerala as the first state in the country to
attain 'Total Primary Education', and
described the achievement as 'historic.'
NHAI has signed Memorandum of
Understanding with National Remote
Sensing Centre (NRSC) under Indian Space
Research Organization (ISRO) and North
East Centre for Technology Application
and Research (NECTAR) for use of spatial
technology for monitoring and managing
national highways.
Bollywood actor Amitabh Bachchan on 12
January 2016 was bestowed honorary life
membership of Kolkatas soccer outfit
Mohammedan Sporting.
The prestigious Yale School of
Management will name its deanship in
honour of PepsiCos India-born CEO Indra
Nooyi as she gifted an undisclosed amount
to her alma mater, becoming the schools
biggest alumni donor and the first woman
to endow a deanship at a top b-school.
Lieutenant General J.F.R. Jacob (retired),
hero of 1971 Bangladesh Liberation War
and former Governor of Goa and Punjab,
died on 13 January 2016 after prolonged
illness.
Reserve Bank of India has allowed banks
to offer the whole array of services even
at off-site Automated Teller Machines
(ATMs). Off-site ATMs are the ones that
are set up on a standalone basis and are
not on the premises of a bank branch.
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 CA Bits

The country's largest public sector bank, India's Sania Mirza and her Swiss partner
State Bank of India (SBI), has opened its Martina Hingis broke a 22-year-old world
first branch dedicated to serving startup record by winning their 29th women's
companies in Bengaluru. The doubles match in a row en route to their
announcement comes ahead of the Prime entry into the women's doubles final of the
Minister's 'Start-up India Stand Up India' WTA Sydney International, here .
event that will be held on January 16,
The US Citizenship and Immigration
where the government will roll out its new
Services (USCIS) on 12 January 2016
startup policy. The bank envisions that its
notified revised petition fees for H-1B and
InCube branches will be a one-stop shop
L-1 visas. The increase in the fees is in tune
for the financial service requirements of
with the Consolidated Appropriations Act,
startups in the country.
2016 that was signed into law by Barack
Sikkim has become Indias first fully Obama, the President of the USA, on 18
organic state by implementing organic December 2015.
practices on around 75,000 hectares of
India continued its trend of being the top
agricultural land. It was 12 years ago in
country of birth from Asia for immigrant
2003 when the Pawan Chamling-led
scientists and engineers in US, with
government decided to make Sikkim an
950,000 out of the continent's total 2.96
organic farming state through a
million, according to a new report.
declaration in the legislative assembly.
Renowned British actor Alan Rickman,
Bengaluru-based activist Subhashini
best known for playing Professor Severus
Vasanth on 13 January 2016 was honoured
Snape in the Harry Potter series and
with Neerja Bhanot Award. She was
ruthless terrorist Hans Gruber in "Die
presented the award for her endeavour to
Hard", died here on Thursday, media
help people in distress and for empowering
reports said.
widows of martyrs and their families across
the country.
David Beckham on 12 January 2016 was
presented with the Danny Kaye
Humanitarian Leadership Award at the
sixth biennial UNICEF Ball in Los Angeles.
Bhaskar Bhat, managing director of Titan,
has taken over as Chairman of Tata SIA
Airlines Ltd (Vistara), succeeding Prasad
Menon who retired from the airline on -
January 13.

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