GK and Current Affairs Updates

Former I.O.A Secretary General Lalit Bhanot has been elected vice-president of Asian Athletics Association (A.A.A) in China in the elections for the continental body. Bhanot was among 14 candidates from various countries for five posts of vice presidents.

Former Assam Chief Secretary Jyoti Prasad Rajkhowa sworn in as the 19^th Governor of Arunachal Pradesh in a ceremony at the Darbar Hall of the Raj Bhawan. Acting Chief Justice of Gauhati High Court Justice K. Sreedhar Rao administered the oath of office and secrecy to the new governor in the presence of Chief Minister Nabam Tuki, his cabinet colleagues, parliamentary secretaries, M.L.A's besides senior civil and police officials.

India and Sweden inked 6 agreements, including in the field of polar research and for boosting trade, during the visit of President Pranab Mukherjee to the key Arctic Council member, in the first-ever visit by an Indian head of state. Mukherjee is on a five-day visit to Sweden and Belarus. Among the agreements inked is a MoU on Cooperation in Sustainable Urban Development. Both sides also inked a MoU for cooperation in the field of micro, small and medium enterprises. Both also inked an agreement on Visa Exemption for diplomatic passports, etc.

Rahul Jalali has been elected as the new president of Press Club of India for the 2015-16 term while Nadeem Ahmed Kazmi has been re-elected as its secretary. Shri Krishna was elected as vice-president of Press Club.

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has appointed Meena Hemchandra as the executive director who would be in charge of department of banking supervision. She will also be in charge of department of non-banking supervision and department of co-operative banking supervision.

Reserve Bank of India issued its Second Bi-monthly Monetary Policy Statement, 2015-16. According to the statement 
1.Short-term lending rate or Repo rate has been cut by 0.25 percent to 7.25 percent.
2.The Reverse Repo rate under the LAF stands adjusted to 6.25 percent, 
3.The Marginal Standing Facility (MSF) rate and the Bank Rate to 8.25 percent.
5.Cash Reserve Ratio has been kept unchanged at 4 percent. \
6.Statutory Liquidity Ratio is retained at 21.5 percent. 
7.Inflation is expected to rise to 6 percent by January 2016. Growth forecast has been lowered to 7.6 percent for 2015-16 from 7.8 percent projected in April 2015

US-based taxi hailing app Uber has appointed Amit Jain as President of its India operations. In this role, Amit will be running all business strategies, operations, and growth in a market of global strategic importance for Uber. Prior to this, Jain was president of Rent.com, a technology company in the US dedicated to giving renters a free and convenient way to find a perfect place to live.

An Indian-origin businessman has been honoured for his commendable public service in Singapore. Gautam Banerjee, senior managing director at Blackstone and co-chairman of its Asia operating committee, as well as chairman of Blackstone Singapore, was awarded the prestigious 'Public Service Medal' by President Tony Tan Keng Yam.

 The Union Cabinet, chaired by the Prime Minister Narendra Modi, has given its approval to the agreement on Coastal Shipping between India and Bangladesh to carry out coastal movement of goods between the two countries. 1.EXIM trade between India and Bangladesh would be benefited by way of reduction in freight charges. 
2.It will also improve the utilization of port capacities of Indian ports and open up new opportunity for Indian coastal vessels. 
3.It will also help in decongestion of roads especially at the Land custom stations/integrated check posts at the Indo-Bangladesh boarder

Nigeria's president-elect Muhammadu Buhari, who got a stunning victory in elections, sworn-in amid army salutations and cultural events. Buhari defeated President Good Luck Jonathan.72-year-old Buhari took oath in the presence of Chief Justice of Nigeria and Supreme Court's Chief Mahmoud Mohammed.