Current Affairs: November 24, 2016

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November 24, 2016

Renowned Scientist MGK Menon passes away

Acclaimed high energy particle physicist and an institution

builder of Indian science Prof. M G K Menon passed away. He

was 88. He was Scientist, Science & Technology policy-maker,

scholar, parliamentarian, Cabinet Minister. He has been

described as one of India’s most eminent “statesmen of science”

Mambillikalathil Govind Kumar Menon was born on 28 August 1928 in Mangalore, Karnataka.

He was famously known as MGK or Goku. He was awarded a Ph.D. at a relatively young age of

25 by University of Bristol, UK in 1953.

RBI doubles cap on PPIs to Rs. 20,000

The Reserve bank of India (RBI) has increased the per month

limit of Prepaid Payment Instruments (PPIs) to Rs. 20,000 from

Rs. 10,000 and to Rs. 50,000 for merchant bank. This decision

was taken due to sudden increase in demand for digital wallets

(especially mobile wallets) after Government announced

demonetisation of Rs. 500 and Rs. 1000 notes. The prepaid PPIs could be also issued to

merchants if they provided a self-declaration in respect of their status and bank account and

also to be kept on record by the issuer. Funds transfer from such PPIs will be permitted only to

the merchant’s own linked bank account and upto an amount of Rs. 50,000 per month, without

any limit per transaction. Thus, this decision will boost mobile wallet transactions following the

withdrawal of high-value notes. The measures will be applicable till December 30, 2016.

Current Affairs: November 24, 2016

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China agrees to import rice from 17 mills in India

China has agreed to import rice, non-basmati and

basmati varieties from 17 registered mills in India.

These mills are in Punjab, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh and

Madhya Pradesh. It is considered as a major

breakthrough in India’s efforts to ensure market access

for Indian products (especially rice) in China as it is the world’s largest rice importer. India had

repeatedly sought market access for Indian products citing the country’s widening goods trade

deficit with China. The products included non-basmati rice, pharmaceuticals and many fruits

and vegetables among others.

Nuclear capable Agni-I ballistic missile successfully test-fired

The indigenously built nuclear capable Agni-I ballistic

missile was successfully test-fired from a test range off

Odisha coast, as part of a user trial by India Army. It was

test-fired from a mobile launcher from the launch pad-4 of

the Integrated Test Range (ITR) at Abdul Kalam Island

(Wheeler Island). The last trial of Agni-I was conducted successfully in March 2016 from the

same base.

Current Affairs: November 24, 2016

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Portugal Prime Minister Antonio Costa to be Chief Guest of 14th Pravasi

Bharatiya Divas

Antonio Costa (54), the Indian origin Prime Minister of Portugal will be the chief guest at the

14th Pravasi Bharatiya Divas (PBD) Convention. The PBD

Convention is scheduled to be held from January 7 to 9, 2017 in

Bengaluru, Karnataka. Mr. Costa will participate in the inaugural

session of the PBD Convention on January 8 and address the

delegates. Besides, Surinam Vice president Michael Ashwin

Satyandre Adhin will be the Special Guest at the Youth Pravasi Bharatiya Divas (PBD) to be

held in Bengaluru on January 7, 2017.

India, Switzerland sign Joint Declaration for implementing AEOI

India and Switzerland have signed a Joint Declaration for

implementation of Automatic Exchange of Information (AEOI)

in respect of accounts of Indians held abroad. Under the pact,

both countries will start collecting data in accordance with the

global standards in 2018 and exchange it from 2019 onwards.

Thus, it will help India to get access details of bank accounts

held by Indians in Switzerland for 2018 and subsequent years on an automatic basis from

September 2019. It is considered as a big step towards fighting black money stashed by Indians

overseas.

Current Affairs: November 24, 2016

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India’s wealth rises and also disparity: Credit Suisse Report

As per a report on global wealth published by Credit Suisse, the

total quantum of wealth in India is rising but disparity between

rich and poor is also rising. The report says that the uneven

growth has left 96% of the adult population in India at the base of

the wealth pyramid with wealth below $10,000. However, a small

fraction of the adult population (0.3%) has net worth of more than

$100,000. Indian Scenario: The wealth in India is mostly dominated by property and other real

estate. It makes up 86% of its estimated household assets. The wealth in India in local currency

terms increased 5.1% in 2016 but due to adverse currency exchange movements.

Pankaj Patel elected as FICCI President for 2017

Pankaj Patel was elected as the President of Federation of

Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI) for

the year 2017. He will take over after incumbent Ambuja

Neotia Group Chairman Harshavardhan Neotia

completes his term in December 2016. At present Pankaj

Patel is Chief Managing Director of Zydus Cadila. He is

actively involved in various educational institutions and is on advisory committees and

academic councils of several educational institutions such as IISER (Kolkata), IIM Ahmedabad

etc. He is also the Vice President, Executive Chairman and Trustee of the Gujarat Cancer Society

and Chairman of the Gujarat Cancer and Research Institute, one of the largest of its kind

regional Cancer Centre in India.