GK and Current Affairs Updates

Former Spinner Anil Kumble was appointed as the head coach of Indian Cricket Team on 23 June 2016. He will hold this position for one year.
•    Kumble’s first assignment will be the upcoming away series in the West Indies, where India will play four Test matches.
•    The decision of his selection was taken in the BCCI working committee meeting in Dharamshala, Himachal Pradesh by the Cricket Advisory Committee comprising Sachin Tendulkar, VVS Laxman, Saurav Ganguly and Sanjay Jagdale, the Chief Co-Coordinator.
•    Forty-five year old Anil Kumble was among 57 candidates who applied for the position advertised by the BCCI in May 2016.
•    He is only the second bowler in Test cricket to take 10 wickets in an innings. He achieved the fete in a match against Pakistan in Delhi in 1999.
•    The 45-year-old leg-spinner has mentored Royal Challengers Bangalore and Mumbai Indians.
•    He has been the chairman of the National Cricket Academy and BCCI’s Technical Committee.
•    His international cricket career spans 18years.
•    Overall, Kumble has to his name in first class cricket.
•    He was awarded Padma Shri and also received Arjuna Award.
•    He was Wisden Cricketer of the Year in 1996.
•    He was appointed Chairman of the ICC Cricket Committee in 2012, a position he still holds.
•    He was also included into the Great Hall of Fame in 2015.

In a bid to promote green energy, the world's first electric road is now under testing in Sweden. 
•    The road near the city of Gävle in central Sweden will serve as a testing ground for electrically-powered trucks which will operate under real traffic conditions.
•    The hybrid electric trucks from Scania will operate on the 2 km strip on the E16 motorway using conductive technology developed by Siemens.
•    The technology behind the concept allows the trucks to operate as electric vehicles when on the electrified road and as regular hybrid vehicles when on other stretches.
•    Scania trucks are Euro 6-certified and run on bio fuel. 
•    The vehicle receives its electrical power from a pantograph power collector which is in turn connected to overhead power lines that are above the right-hand lane of the road. 
•    The trucks are capable of freely connecting and disconnecting from the overhead wires while in motion.
•    If the truck goes outside the electrically-powered lane, the pantograph is disconnected and the truck then runs on the combustion engine or the battery-powered electric motor. 
•    The same technique applies if the driver wants to overtake another vehicle in a different lane.
•    The project is seen as a key component in achieving the country's ambition of an energy-efficient and fossil-free vehicle fleet by 2030.

World’s leading payments platform PayPal on 22 June 2016 announced the appointment of Anupam Pahuja as the Managing Director (MD) and Country Manager for its India operations.

•    Pahuja will be responsible for all aspects of PayPal's business in India. He will also be responsible for further strengthening of the company's operations in the country.
•    Prior to joining PayPal, Pahuja worked as the India MD for SumTotal Systems.
•    PayPal operates a worldwide online payments system.
•    It is headquartered in California, United States.
•    It is one of the world's largest Internet payment companies.
•    The company operates as an acquirer. It performs payment processing for online vendors, auction sites and other commercial users, for which it charges a fee.
•    The company was established in 1998.
•    In 2014, PayPal moved 228 billion US dollar in 26 currencies across more than 190 nations, generating total revenue of 7.9 billion US dollar.

The International Widow's Day 2016 was celebrated across the world on 23 June 2016. The day was celebrated to raise awareness on the troubles of widowed women.
•    The day throws light on the situation of widows which is sometimes neglected due to absent in statistics, unnoticed by researchers and is mostly overlooked by civil society organizations.
•    Generally, widow women have to suffer complete social exclusion. Abuse of widows and their children constitutes one of the most serious violations of human rights and obstacles to development today. 
•    Millions of the world’s widows endure extreme poverty, ostracism, violence, homelessness, ill health and discrimination in law and custom.
•    To give special recognition to the situation of widows of all ages and across regions and cultures, the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) declared 23 June 2011 as the first-ever International Widows’ Day to be celebrated annually.
•    Since 2011, International Widows Day is observed to sensitize the global population for the misery of the widows.

The United Nations Public Service Day was celebrated by the United Nations (UN) on 23 June 2016.The day was celebrated to mark the invaluable contributions of public servants and administrators to build a better world for all.
•    The 2016 United Nations Public Service Day was celebrated at the United Nations Headquarters in New York with a High-level Knowledge Sharing Panel on Leaving No One Behind: Innovative Institutional Approaches and Public Service Delivery.
•    This is the first time that the Day is celebrated after the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development was adopted by all United Nations Member States.
•    The UN Public Service Day is intended to celebrate the value and virtue of public service to the community. 
•    It highlights the contribution of public service in the development process and recognizes the work of public servants.
•    It also encouraged young people to pursue careers in the public sector.
•    On this day, the United Nations awards the public servants with the United Nations Public Service Award, the most prestigious international recognition of excellence in public service. 
•    The award Ceremony was established in 2003.

Aveek Sarkar on 22 June 2016 resigned as the Editor-in-Chief of Ananda Bazaar Patrika (ABP) and The Telegraph. However, he would continue as the chairman of the group. He is succeeded by Arup Sarkar.
•    Moreover, Anirban Bhattacharya was appointed as the Editor of the Ananda Bazaar Patrika and R Rajagopalan was named as the Editor of The Telegraph.
•    Aveek Sarkar will now play an advisory role as Editor (Emeritus) and Vice Chairman of the company.
•    Aveek Sarkar, one of the most prominent personalities in the Indian publishing scene, was tutored by the legendary Harold Evans, then the editor of The Sunday Times.
•    Aveek Sarkar assumed the post of Editor of the Ananda Bazar Patrika in 1983 after death of his father Ashok Sarkar.
•    He was the moving force behind the transformation of the ABP Group from a regional house into a prominent national group and also led the group's entry into television.
•    He played vital roles during the formation of Penguin India, the Indian counterpart of Penguin Books and during the acquisition of STAR News in 2003.

Technology services provider Tech Mahindra Ltd (TechM) on 22 June 2016 acquired UK-based digital transformation firm The BIO Agency Ltd.
•    The acquisition was carried out in an all-cash deal for an enterprise value of up to 45 million pounds.
•    The payment of 22 million pounds and the surplus cash of 5 million pounds will be made upfront and the balance will be done away as deferred payments based on company performance.
•    Tech Mahindra will acquire 100 percent of shares of the company. 
•    The closing date of the transaction is expected to take place in the first week of July 2016.
•    The move will help Tech Mahindra to strengthen its digital portfolio in providing better digital strategy, services and customer experience.
•    The acquisition will also help The BIO Agency to make sizable inroads into the telecommunications and enterprise clients of Tech Mahindra. 
•    BIO Agency specializes in digital transformation across sectors such as retail, financial and travel. It offers digital strategy, service design, digital retail, connected products, product innovation and e-commerce solutions.

India is offering Commonwealth citizens fully funded training courses across a range of areas, including rural development, IT, telecommunications and renewable energy, in association with the Commonwealth Secretariat.
•    The courses are sponsored by the Indian government and delivered by Indian institutions through the Indian Technical and Economic (ITEC) programme, the Commonwealth Secretariat here said.
•    ITEC is part of the Commonwealth Secretariat’s Third Country Training Programme, which aims to build capacity in member countries by providing specialist training in key areas of development work.
•    This is a fantastic opportunity for those in the public and private sectors, as well those who work with NGOs. 
•    India has allocated 30 places for participants from Commonwealth member states for the 2016-2017 program
•    In general, a Commonwealth citizen is a person who has that status under British nationality law and may enjoy some privileges in the United Kingdom and less commonly, other Commonwealth countries. 
•    Each country can determine what special rights, if any, are accorded to non-nationals who are Commonwealth citizens. 
•    The term is largely confined to British nationality law and is not used in many other Commonwealth countries such as Australia.

The Cabinet has approved the signing of a protocol amending an agreement between India and Belgium for avoidance of double taxation and prevention of fiscal evasion with respect to taxes on income.

•    The amendment in the protocol will broaden the scope of the existing framework of exchange of tax related information between the two countries, which will help curb tax evasion and tax avoidance, an official statement said.
•    The protocol will also revise the existing treaty provisions on mutual assistance in collection of taxes, it added.
•    The decision regarding this was taken in a meeting chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
•    Earlier, the government had revised the double taxation avoidance agreement with Mauritius and is in the process of amending pacts with Singapore and other nations.
•    India is revising these pacts to check abuse of tax treaty.

Anand Desai led Expert committee set up to examine the Specific Relief Act, 1963 on 20 June 2016 submitted its report to Union Law & Justice Minister DV Sadananda Gowda.
•    In its report the committee has recommended modifications in the Specific Relief Act, 1963, which will help in ensuring the ease of doing business.
•    To change the approach, from damages being the rule and specific performance being the exception, to specific performance being the rule, and damages being the alternate remedy.
•    To provide guidelines for reducing the discretion granted to Courts and tribunals while granting performance and injunctive reliefs so that public works projects is not be impeded or stalled.
•    To introduce provisions for rights of third parties (other than for Government contracts).
•    To consider addressing unconscionable contracts, unfair contracts, reciprocity in contracts etc., and implied terms.
•    Need to classify diverse Public utility Contracts as a distinct class recognising the inherent public interest/importance to be addressed in the Act.
•    The Act was enacted by the Parliament to replace the earlier Act of 1877 with an aim to assure that whenever there is a wrong there must be a remedy.
•    The Act does not confer any Rights on itself. Specific relief is only provided for the violation of a legal right.