GK and Current Affairs Updates

US-based taxi hailing app Uber has appointed Amit Jain as President of it's 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 it's approval to the agreement on Coastal Shipping between India and Bangladesh to carry out coastal movement of goods between the two countries. Exim trade between India and Bangladesh would be benefited by way of reduction in freight charges. It will also improve the utilization of port capacities of Indian ports and open up new opportunity for Indian coastal vessels. 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. Ever since Nigeria moved to democracy in 1999, Buhari had failed at three consecutive attempts to win the elections. 72-year-old Buhari took oath in the presence of Chief Justice of Nigeria and Supreme Court's Chief Mahmoud Mohammed.

West Bengal government had initiated a plan to invest over Rs.26,000 crore for the development of M.S.M.E and Textile sector. A separate textile policy of state was being formulated by the government. Under the plan M.S.M.E projects would be set up in joint ventures or through PPP model creating employment opportunities for six lakh people in the state. With this initiative there would be a massive improvement in the M.S.M.E sector and definitely the units like handloom, hosiery, zari and many other units.

Edward Gilligan, the president of American Express Co., a credit card company, passed away. Gilligan was named president of AmEx in 2013. He was 55 years old.

India has launched a virtual Memorial Wall to honour its soldiers who laid down their lives while serving in UN peacekeeping operations, a precursor to the eventual construction of a permanent memorial wall at the world body's headquarters proposed by the country. The wall was unveiled by India's Ambassador to the UN Asoke Mukerji at a solemn ceremony to mark the International Day of UN Peacekeepers. The wall of honour includes details of 161 Indian peacekeepers who were killed in the line of duty in 16 UN peacekeeping missions so far. The wall will be hosted on the website of the Permanent Mission of India to the United Nations.

Himachal Pradesh has emerged as the first state in the country to start Aadhaar Based Payment System (ABPS). Workers and vendors whose bank accounts were Aadhaar-linked were being paid through ABPS and the wages and cost of material was being directly transferred to their latest Aadhaar-linked bank accounts

Four Indian grapplers, including Yogeshwar Dutt, struck gold at the International Wrestling tournament in Sassari City, Italy, after finishing on top in their respective weight categories in Men's Freestyle. Yogeshwar bagged the yellow metal in 65kg division, while Praveen Rana claimed the gold in 70kg category. Amit Kumar and Narsingh Yadav also finished on the top of the podium in 57kg and 74kg categories, respectively.

Service tax hike to 14% has become effective from 1st June 2015. Finance Minister Arun Jaitley in his Budget had proposed to raise service tax from 12.36 percent (including education cess) to 14 percent. The proposal takes effect from June 1.The tax is levied on all services, expect a small negative list. Some of the key services that will attract higher tax and hence become costlier are: railways, airlines, banking, insurance, advertising, architecture, construction etc.