GK & Current Affairs June 2016

Distinguished scientist G Kalyanakrishnan took over as Chief Executive of Nuclear Fuel Complex (NFC), Hyderabad.
Kalyanakrishnan succeeds N Saibaba, who has retired on completion of two years of extended period of service.
Kalyanakrishnan will also be the Chairman of the NFC Board.
• Prior to being appointed as Chief Executive of NFC, Kalyanakrishnan served as the Deputy Chief Executive.
• He has vast experience in erection and commissioning as well as operation of Heavy Water Plants.
• He has also contributed in the successful commissioning of Zirconium Complex (ZC – a Unit of NFC) at Pazhayakayal, Tuticorin, Tamil Nadu and in achieving its nameplate capacity of 250 MT in the shortest time.
• He obtained his degree in chemical engineering from the Regional Engineering College, Warangal in 1980.
• He had joined the 24th batch of 1980-1981 Training School of Bhabha Atomic Research Centre (BARC), Mumbai.
• The Nuclear Fuel Complex was established in 1971.
• It was established as a major industrial unit of India's Department of Atomic Energy for the supply of nuclear fuel bundles and reactor core components.
• It is a unique facility where natural and enriched uranium fuel, zirconium alloy cladding and reactor core components are manufactured under one roof.
• NFC supplies zircaloy clad uranium oxide fuel assemblies and zirconium alloy structural components for all 14 operating atomic power reactors in India.
• The Hyderabad plant has a capacity to produce 250 tons of UO2 per year and is expected to expanded to a 600 tons per year capacity.
• NFC products are supplied to the Department of Atomic Energy, the Indian Navy, Hindustan Aeronautics Limited and other defence organisations.

National Research Development Corporation (NRDC) on 9 June 2016 inked a Memorandum of Agreement (MoA) with the AP Food Processing Society of Andhra Pradesh Government to establish Smart Agribusiness Platform Networks of Andhra Pradesh (SAPNAP).
These networks will strengthen the agribusiness and food processing sector by focusing on creation of enabling ecosystem for accelerated growth of agribusiness by involving all the stakeholders.
• It is an initiative to increase food production and food processing units under AP Food Processing Policy 2015-20.
• It will have two key development platforms, they are:
(i) Smart Agribusiness Value-chains:
•These chains focus on intelligence, analytics, big data, innovations and partnerships.
•Farm-to-Fork value chains will be mapped and developed for existing and potential crops, commodities and products
(ii) Smart Agribusiness Incubators and Accelerators:
•These focuses on establishing 13 district level incubators which will enable infrastructure and ecosystem for start ups, enterprise development and FPO mentoring.
•They will have Office or lab spaces, trial fields, common facilities, pilot equipment and start up ecosystem to help new enterprises take off.
• It is an enterprise of the department of Scientific & Industrial Research under Union Ministry of Science and Technology.
• It shall be the knowledge partner in the programme and would provide the required technologies, know-how, IPRs and other value added techno-commercial services to the start-ups of SAPNAP and linkages to the stakeholders of national and international level.

India Post launched a logo and tagline design contest for the soon to be set up India Post Payments Bank (IPPB) on the MyGov website.
Union Cabinet gave its approval 1 June 2016 to set up the IPPB under the Department of Posts to further financial inclusion in India.
India Post wants to involve the people of India in designing the DNA of the India Post Payments Bank. So, it is conducting a contest for the design.
It has also initiated a nationwide survey to understand the needs of different segments of customers.
• IPPB will offer digitally enabled payments, banking and remittance services of all kinds between entities and individuals.
• It also provides access to insurance, mutual funds, pension and credit products in partnership with third party financial service providers and Banks.
• Cocreating value propositions and products with its customers and other stakeholders is one of the guiding principles of IPPB.
• It is poised to emerge as the main vehicle of financial inclusion in the country by bringing the physical reach of 1.55 lakh post offices.
• It will be a modern payments platform powered by ubiquitous information and communication technologies together to create a national payments architecture that can be accessed by all users like never before.
• The roll out of the IPPB is to be completed by September 2017.
contest is open to all Indian citizens, institutions, agencies and entities for a period of one month, until 9 July 2016.
• The best entry will be awarded 50000 rupees.
• A panel of eminent designers/ experts will help shortlist 20 best entries which will thereafter be put up for voting on the MyGov platform for the final selection of the winner.

The legendary Canadian ice hockey player Gordie Howe was died on 10 June 2016 after a lengthy illness. He was 88.
He was nicknamed as Mr. Hockey and is considered to be one of the greatest ice hockey players of all time.
• He was born in 1928 in Floral, Saskatchewan.
• He played 26 seasons in the National Hockey League (NHL) and six seasons in the World Hockey Association (WHA).
• He led the Detroit Red Wings to four Stanley Cup titles.
• He was the all-time leader in career goals and points.
• He retired in 1971 and was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame in Toronto in 1972.
• He was the inaugural recipient of the NHL Lifetime Achievement Award in 2008.
• He continues to hold NHL records for most games and seasons played.

Union Railway Minister Suresh Prabhu flagged off the weekly Champaran Satyagrah Express at Motihari, Bihar.
He inaugurated six rail facilities in Bihar on the occasion which includes three Road Over Bridges (ROBs) at Danapur (Patna), Motihari and Begusarai railway stations, the broad guage conversion work of Banmankhi-Purnea rail section, besides converting Piprahan station into a crossing station.
• It was introduced to mark 100 years of the historic Champaran Satyagraha (movement) that was launched by Mahatma Gandhi in 1917.
• The train will run between Bapudham, Motihari and Anand Vihar, Delhi.
The Champaran Satyagraha was first Satyagraha in India;
Mahatma Gandhi led the movement in 1917 against the oppressive policies European indigo planters that led to exploitation of tens of thousands of landless serfs, indentured labourers and poor farmers in Champaran and neighbouring areas.

The Union Information and Broadcasting ministry has framed a New Print Media Advertisement Policy for Directorate of Advertising and Visual Publicity (DAVP). 
•    It has been done to promote transparency and accountability in issuing of advertisements in print media. 
•    It focuses on streamlining release of Government advertisements and to also promote equity and fairness among various categories of newspapers and periodicals. 
•    It has introduced a New Marking System for newspapers to incentivize Newspapers. 
•    The system is based on 6 objective criteria with different marks each of them.
•    The newspapers will be able get benefit from new system who have better professional standing and get their circulation verified Audit Bureau of Circulations or Registrar of Newspapers for India. 
•    DAVP will release advertisements to newspapers based on marks obtained by each newspaper. 
•    This will also ensure transparency and accountability in the release of advertisements by DAVP. 
•    For payment and adjustment of Bills, it mandates that DAVP will release payment of advertisement bills in the name of newspaper or company account directly through ECS or NEFT. 

The National Investment and Infrastructure Fund (NIIF) Ltd. on 5 June 2016 signed a MoU with the Qatar Investment Authority (QIA) to facilitate investment in Indian infrastructure sector.
•    The Memorandum of Understanding was signed in Doha during the Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to Qatar.
•    Its objective is to facilitate QIA to study investment opportunities in the infrastructure sector in India.
•    The QIA will develop a framework for exchange of information with regard to such investments opportunities, in order to enable both sides to decide on joint investments.
•    The MoU will remain in effect for 12 months during which period, both parties will discuss and agree on the terms, principles, criteria for such investments.
•    The NIIF shall share with QIA a pipeline of investment opportunities available in the infrastructure sector in India
•    It is the sovereign wealth fund of the State of Qatar.
•    They are long-term investors and access investment opportunities across all geographical areas, sectors and asset classes.
•    The majority of their investments are outside Qatar with assets spanning a wide range of sectors and spread across asset classes.
•    The fund deploys a wide range of investment strategies and invests through a carefully selected network of top-tier fund managers.
•    It was approved by the Union Cabinet in July 2015 to fund new and rejuvenate stressed projects so that stalled investment cycle is revived in the country.
•    It was established as a Category II Alternate Investment Funds (AIF) as per the regulations of the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI).
•    It has an initial corpus of 20000 crore rupees which can be leveraged by infrastructure companies including Indian Rail Finance Corporation (IRFC) and National Housing Bank (NHB).
•    Similar to the agreement with the QIA, the NIIF signed a MoU with the United Arab Emirates (UAE) authorities in February 2016 to mobilize investments into the Indian infrastructure sector.

Axis Bank has launched India’s first international certified green bond to finance climate change solutions around the world.
•    It was done at London Stock Exchange (LSE). 
•    The proceeds of the bond will be invested by Axis Bank in green energy, transportation and infrastructure projects. 
•    It will play important role in reinforcing India’s commitment to produce 175,000 MW of renewable power by 2022. 
•    The green bonds of Axis Bank were certified by the Climate Bonds Standards Board. 
•    It has raised 500 million dollars at the LSE after it launched. This is the first green bond of Axis Bank issued within its 5 billion dollars Medium Term Note (MTN) programme, which has also has been listed entirely on LSE. 
•    Bonds basically are debt instruments which help issuer to get capital while the investors receive fixed income in the form of interest. 
•    In case of Green Bonds, the issuer gets capital from the investors only if the investment (capital) is being raised to fund green projects relating to renewable energy or emission reductions etc.

Per Lodin, Major General of Sweden, was on 8 June 2016 appointed as the Head of the UN Military Observer Group in India and Pakistan (UNMOGIP). Lodin's appointment was approved by United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon.
•    Major General Lodin succeeds Major General Delali Johnson Sakyi of Ghana, who will complete his two-year assignment as Chief Military Observer and Head of UNMOGIP on 2 July 2016.
•    Lodin is currently the head of Strategic Material Management at Forsvarets materielverk (FMV), the Swedish Defence Ministry’s procurement and logistics arm.
•    He had earlier served as the head of the task force centre of Kosovo Force (KFOR), the multi-national peacekeeping mission led by NATO in 2006-2007.
•    He began his military career in the Swedish Army in 1978.•    According to the Security Council mandate, UNMOGIP reports on ceasefire violations along the Line of Control between India and Pakistan in Jammu and Kashmir.
•    It also observes and reports developments that could lead to ceasefire violations.
•    It has personnel from 10 countries comprising 44 military members and 72 civilian staff.
•    UNMOGIP began the operations in 1949.
•    While on the other hand, Pakistan’s Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif has called for an expansion of the UNMOGIP and his country continues to file complaints with it about alleged Indian ceasefire violations.
•    In 2014, India asked the UNMOGIP to leave the government building it had provided the mission.

India on 8 June 2016 signed a Europe-led scheme that seeks to clampdown on tax evasion and corruption by committing to automatically exchange information on beneficial ownership.
•    With this, India joined a group of nearly 40 nations that are signatories of a scheme.
•    Under the scheme, the signatories commits to the initiative to automatically exchange information on beneficial ownership.
•    The next stage will be for the development of a global standard for this exchange.
•    The scheme was announced in April 2015 by Britain, France, Germany, Italy and Spain.
•    The signatories to the scheme will have to provide one another free access to information on who ultimately owns companies.
•    Besides India, some of the other countries outside Europe on the list include Afghanistan, Nigeria, Mexico and the UAE. Most European countries except Switzerland are part of this automatic exchange mechanism.
•    It seems that the step is in the direction to Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s 2014 election pledge in which he said that he will recover billions of dollars sent to tax havens abroad to avoid income tax.