Daily GK Updates - 14th June, 2017

­­­­NATIONAL UPDATES:

1. Union Cabinet approves Interest Subvention on Short-Term Crop Loan to Farmers: The Union cabinet has approved the Interest Subvention Scheme (ISS) for farmers for the year 2017-18. The Government has allocated Rs. 20,339 crore for this scheme.

2. Ministry of Railways launches Mission Retro-Fitment: Minister of Railways Suresh Prabhu has launched Mission Retro-Fitment to enhance the passenger experience by upgrading the existing fleet of coaches.

3. Bihar govt to conduct social audit of Public distribution system: Bihar govt will carry out a social audit of the Public Distribution System to determine effective implementation of the Right to Food Act, 2013 in the state. Bihar was the first state to implement the Right to Food Act on February 1, 2014. Social audit is a process of reviewing official records and determining whether state reported expenditures reflect the actual monies spent on the ground.

4. Rajasthan village to be named after US President Donald Trump: US President Donald Trump will soon have a village named after him in the Indian state of Rajasthan. Sulabh International founder Bindeshwar Pathak announced that a village will be named after the US president to give a fillip to India-US relationship. Sulabh International is an India-based social service organization that works to promote human rights, environmental sanitation, non-conventional sources of energy, waste management and social reforms through education. Sulabh International is the largest nonprofit organization in India.

5. Uttar Pradesh ranks first in child labourers: According to CRY report over 8 lakh children in India between the age group 5 and 6 years are engaged in child labour. According to the report released Uttar Pradesh has the highest number of 2,50,672 children engaged in labour, followed by Bihar with 1,28,087 children and Maharashtra where the number stands at 82,847.

6. DRDO successfully test fires 'Nag' missile: The DRDO successfully test fired anti-tank missile 'Nag' in a desert in the western sector of Rajasthan. The "fire and forget" third generation anti-tank guided missile 'Nag' is equipped with the highly advanced Imaging Infrared Radar (IRR) seeker with integrated avionics, technology. It is one of five missile systems developed by the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) under the Integrated Guided Missile Development Program (IGMDP).

7. India emerges as the seventh largest exporter of agri-products: In 22nd APEDA Annual Award Function, commerce secretary Rita Teaotia said India has emerged as the seventh largest exporter of agri-products globally. Goods exports during 2016-17 stood at $276.28 billion, out of which agri exports comprised of $33.38 billion representing 12.08% of the total exports. Agricultural and Processed Food Products Export Development Authority popularly known as APEDA is an apex body of the Ministry of Commerce, Government of India, to promote the export of agricultural commodities and processed food products.

INTERNATIONAL UPDATES:

1. World Bank approves $500 million for Afghanistan: The World Bank has approved financing worth more than 500 million dollars for Afghanistan to support a string of projects to boost the economy. The package will help Afghanistan with refugees, expand private-sector opportunities for the poor, boost the development of five cities, expand electrification, improve food security and build rural roads etc. The World Bank is an international financial institution that provides loans to countries of the world for capital programs and its headquarters located in Washington, D.C.

OTHER UPDATES:

BANKING & FINANCE:

1. IDBI Bank is the only PSB to get ‘high’ rating for code compliance: According to the Code Compliance Rating of banks done by the Banking Codes and Standards Board of India (BCSBI) 2017, only 1 out of 26 public sector banks and 8 out of 17 private sector banks got ‘high’ rating for their adherence to code compliance. The eight private sector banks that got ‘high’ rating are — Axis Bank, DCB Bank, HDFC Bank, ICICI Bank, IndusInd Bank, Kotak Mahindra Bank, RBL Bank and YES Bank. The three foreign banks — Citibank, HSBC and Standard Chartered Bank — that were surveyed got ‘high’ ranking.

2. RBI identifies 12 loan accounts constituting 25% of gross NPAs for immediate resolution under bankruptcy law: The RBI’s Internal Advisory Committee has identified 12 accounts each having more than 5,000 crore rupees of outstanding loans.

It accounts for 25 % of the current gross Non Performing Assets for immediate referral and resolution under the bankruptcy law. The Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code, 2016 (IBC) is the bankruptcy law of India which seeks to consolidate the existing framework by creating a single law for insolvency and bankruptcy.

BUSINESS & ECONOMY:

3. SEBI permits options trading in commodity futures:  Securities and Exchange Board of India, SEBI, permitted options trading in commodities to deepen the market but will permit each exchange to launch options on futures of only one commodity initially. Options could be launched on futures contract of only those commodities that are among the top five in terms of total trading turnover value of previous 12 months.