GK and Current Affairs Updates

The Union Government on 24 November 2016 decided that from 25 November 2016, the old currency notes of Rs 500 and Rs 1000 notes will no longer be exchanged at the bank counters. 
●    This will encourage people who are still unbanked, to open new bank accounts.  
●    However, there are some exemptions for certain transactions that will be valid till 15 December 2016.
●    Payments for the transactions under all the exempted categories will now be accepted only through old Rs 500 notes.
●    Payment of school fees up to Rs 2000 per student in Central Government, State Government, Municipality and local body schools.
●    Payment of fees in Central or State Government colleges.
●    Pre-paid mobile top-up to a limit of Rs 500 per top-up.
●    Purchases from Consumer Cooperative Stores of up to Rs 5000 at a time. 
●    Payment of current and arrear dues to utilities will be limited to only water and electricity. 

Nepal Rastra Bank on Thursday banned the use of India's new currency notes of Rs 500 and Rs 2,000 denomination, terming them "unauthorised and illegal".
●    These two currency notes were issued by the Reserve Bank of India recently after old Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 denomination notes were withdrawn.
●    Nepal Rastra Bank (NRB) has called the new currency notes "unauthorised and illegal".
●    NRB spokesperson Narayan Poudel said these new currency notes are not yet legal in Nepal.
●    Poudel said these notes will be legal in Nepal only when India issues a FEMA notification as per the Foreign Exchange Management Act.
●    India is likely to issue a FEMA notification, allowing people in Nepal and India to possess certain amount of Indian currency.
●    Earlier, a ban was in effect in Nepal till last year against the use of Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 denominations notes.

The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) on 23 November 2016 approved the setting up of Jawahar Navodaya Vidyalaya (JNV) in 62 uncovered districts with an outlay of Rs 2871 crore.
●    The expenses for this purpose will be Rs 109.53 crore during the 12th Plan.  
●    It will provide good quality modern education to the talented children notably from rural areas.  
●    A full-fledged JNV provides employment to 47 people and 62 JNVs will provide direct permanent employment to 2914 individuals.
●    JNVs are residential and co-educational in nature, thereby, all the staff and students will reside in the Vidyalaya campus.
●    It will also create large opportunity for local service providers such as barber, tailor cobbler, manpower for housekeeping and security services.
●    Presently, there are 598 Jawahar Navodaya Vidyalaya in 576  districts. Out of these, 591 are functional.  
●    75% of the seats in a district are filled by candidates from rural areas of the district. 

Donald Trump, the President-elect of the United States of America (USA), on 23 November 2016 named South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley as the US Ambassador to the United Nations. 
●    Haley became the first non-white female cabinet-level official to be appointed within the Trump administration.
●    She is the daughter of Indian immigrants
●    She was a vocal critic of Trump on the campaign trail
●    The 44-year-old has been characterised as a rising star within the Republican Party is the youngest Governor in the US.
●    She has served America as the 116th Governor of South Carolina since 2011.
●    She is also the first woman and first minority governor of South Carolina.
●    She is the second Indian-American, after Bobby Jindal, to serve as governor in the US.
●    President-elect Trump also named Betsy DeVos as education secretary of the country. DeVos is a billionaire education philanthropist and activist.

The upgraded Jaguar DARIN III twin-seat aircraft on 24 November 2016 received the Initial Operation Clearance (IOC). 
●    IOC is a significant milestone for India’s military aviation sector.
●    This completion of IOC for DARIN III was announced by Deputy Chief of IAF, Air Marshal RKS Bhadauria. 
●    It was created by upgrading three DARIN I Standard Jaguars.
●    Three DARIN I (Display Attack Ranging Inertial Navigation) jaguars were indigenously upgraded at Hindustan Aeronautics Limited’s (HAL) Mission and Combat System Research and Design Centre (MCSRDC).
●    Organisations involved in upgrading Jaguar from DARIN-I aircraft to DARIN-III included Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL), the trial team of the Aircraft Systems Testing Establishment (ASTE), certification agencies and others.
●    HAL is India’s aerospace and defence company. 
●    It is based in Bangalore, Karnataka. 
●    It is governed under the management of the Indian Ministry of Defence. 
 

Indian rupee hit its record low level of 68.855 against the US dollar during the intraday trade on Thursday after extending its loses for a fifth consecutive session. 
●    Sentiment in forex market turned highly weak due to consistent selling by foreign investors against the backdrop of demonetisation and renewed concerns over Fed interest rate hike. 
●    The currency opened nearly 22 paise down at 68.78 against dollar on account of buying of American currency by banks and importers. 
●    At 1.10 pm, the local currency was trading 26 paise down at 68.83. 
●    Since demonetisation, rupee has already plunged over 2.5 per cent till date. 
●    The Reserve Bank of India on Wednesday fixed the reference rate of the rupee at 68.47 against the US dollar and 72.7844 for the euro. 
●    domestic equity market was also trading in red in afternoon trade tracking mixed global cues. The BSE Senex was trading 137.89 points, or 0.53 per cent down at 25,913.92, while NSE Nifty was down 45.55 points, or 0.57 per cent, down at 7987.75. 

The first payments bank in the country has gone live. 
●    Airtel Payments Bank , which has rolled out a pilot project in Rajasthan, launched with the promise of being a disruptor, offering 7.25% interest on savings bank accounts. 
●    This is the highest return offered by a bank in India, with most lenders giving only 4%.
●    Airtel, which was earlier offering a wallet — Airtel Money — was the first to receive a payments bank licence from the Reserve Bank of India . 
●    After receiving the approval, Airtel entered into a pact with Kotak Bank, which agreed to acquire a 20% stake in the bank. 
●    The bank's focus is on financial inclusion and it will not be issuing ATM or debit cards, but will allow cash withdrawal facilities at designated Airtel retail outlets which will double as banking points. 
●    The bank is also providing a free personal accident cover of Rs 1 lakh with every savings bank account.
●    Payments banks are the brainchild of former RBI governor Raghuram Rajan, who came up with the idea of differentiated bank licences.

Goldman Sachs has forecast a deceleration in India’s GDP growth to 6.8 per cent this fiscal, down from 7.6 per cent last financial year, due to demonetisation. 
●    According to Goldman Sachs, post the ‘dramatic currency reform’ the liquidity shortage would be a significant constraint on domestic activity, which in turn would affect GDP growth.
●    “In the short term, the liquidity shortage appears likely to be a significant constraint on domestic activity, leading us to forecast a deceleration in GDP growth to 6.8 per cent in FY17 (below consensus), down from 7.6 per cent in FY16,” Goldman Sachs said in a research note.
●    Eventually, the currency reform should help to move economic activity into formal channels, accelerate financial inclusion, and increase government revenue. 
●    According to the report, the “large, young, lower-income” economies of India, Indonesia, and the Philippines have higher growth potential — in theory. 
●    But in practice, much will depend on domestic policy and the pace of economic reform.
 

NASA said its Cassini mission is set to begin on November 30 a daring set of “ring-grazing” orbits, during which it will fly closer to Saturns rings than it has since its 2004 arrival. 
●    On November 30, following a gravitational nudge from Saturn’s moon Titan, Cassini will enter the first phase of the mission’s dramatic endgame.
●    Launched in 1997, Cassini has been touring the Saturn system since arriving there in 2004 for an up-close study of the planet, its rings and moons. 
●    During its journey, Cassini has made numerous dramatic discoveries, including a global ocean within Enceladus and liquid methane seas on Titan.
●    Between November 30 and April 22, Cassini will circle high over and under the poles of Saturn, diving every seven days — a total of 20 times — through the unexplored region at the outer edge of the main rings. 
●    On many of these passes, Cassini’s instruments will attempt to directly sample ring particles and molecules of faint gases that are found close to the rings.

Acknowledging that farmers have been among the hardest hit by the cash crunch due to demonetisation, the Union government on Wednesday announced a special window of Rs. 21,000 crore to district central cooperative banks to ensure smooth agriculture-related operations during the current rabi season.
●    The government also began a new phase of its demonetisation policy and efforts to make the economy less dependent on cash by boosting digital transactions.
●    Economic Affairs Secretary Shaktikanta Das told that the Rs. 21,000 crore would enable these banks to sanction and disburse crop loans to farmers through the network of primary agricultural cooperative societies.
●    He said nearly 82,000 of the 2.2 lakh ATMs in the country had been recalibrated to dispense new currency, adding that within a few days the remaining ones would be covered. 
●    On seizures of unaccounted-for cash, Mr. Das said the Revenue Department would soon make a statement on the exact quantum. 
●    He said the currency printing presses were working at full capacity in three shifts to replenish the notes.