Current Affairs 09th September 2015

Current Affairs 9th September 2015 - Important Points

• 7th session of India-Belarus Intergovernmental Commission held in - Minsk

• Who has won Gold in 2015 Commonwealth Youth Games in weightlifting - Weightlifter Deepak Lather

• Sovereign Gold Bonds Scheme was approved by - Union Cabinet

• Who has became longest-reigning UK monarch - Queen Elizabeth II

• BSE has highest number of listed companies in the world - WFE

• Amma baby care Kit Scheme was launched by - Tamil Nadu Government

• Jharkhand Government approved the formation of - Anti-Terrorism Squad

• Who is appointed as a full time member Niti Aayog - Agriculture expert Ramesh Chand

Current Affairs 9th September 2015 - Details

7th session of India-Belarus Intergovernmental Commission held in - Minsk

On 7th September 2015, The 7th session of India-Belarus Intergovernmental Commission on Trade, Economic, Scientific, Technological and Cultural Cooperation was held in the Belarus capital Minsk.

Minister of State (Independent Charge) for Commerce and Industry Nirmala Sitharaman and her counterpart Vitali Mikhailovich Vovk co-chaired the commision.

Conclusion of the Intergovernmental Commission session

• From the present level of 400 million US dollars, bilateral trade target was set as 1 billion US dollars to be achieved by 2018.
• The trade will be achieved by stepping up cooperation in pharmaceuticals, mining machinery, energy, fertilizer, and tourism sectors.
• To discuss further cooperation in health-care and pharmaceuticals sectors and to promote tourism between the two countries a Joint Working Group (JWG) will be set up.
• Both the countries discussed the issues relating to long term contract for supply of potash fertilizers to India and possible equity participation of Indian fertilizer companies in Belarusian company producing Potash Fertilizer.

Who has won Gold in 2015 Commonwealth Youth Games in weightlifting - Weightlifter Deepak Lather

Among the important Sports Current Affairs, On 8th September 2015, a gold medal in the 62 kg category of the 2015 Commonwealth Youth Games (CYG) being held in Apia, Samoa was won by Indian weightlifters Deepak Lather.

Earlier, Jamjang Deru (17-year-old) who won a gold medal in the 56 kg category on the opening day of the event.

Deepak (15-year-old) finished with a total of 258 kg with 120 kg in snatch, a new CYG record, and 138 kg in clean and jerk. India is being represented by 25 athletes in eight disciplines out of the nine being competed in the CYG.

Medals winners of India till second day of 2015 CYG

• Javelin thrower Mohd Hadish won a Gold medal
• Swimmer Supriya Mondal won the Silver medal in boys 200 metre butterfly event
• Jisna Mathew won a Silver medal in girls 400m race
• Chandan Bauri won a Bronze medal in boys 400m race
• Velavan Senthilkumar won a Bronze in boys squash singles
• Tejaswin Shankar won the Gold medal in boys high jump
• Weightlifter Jamjang Deru won Gold medal in 56kg category
• Weightlifter Deepak Lather won Gold medal in 62 kg category

Sovereign Gold Bonds Scheme was approved by - Union Cabinet

On 9th September 2015, The Union Cabinet gave its approval for the Sovereign Gold Bonds Scheme.

The aim of the scheme is to decrease the demand for physical gold and to shift part of the estimated 300 tons of physical bars and coins purchased every year for investment into Demat (Dematerialised) gold bonds.

Features of Sovereign Gold Bonds Scheme

• Bonds will be issued on behalf of the Government of India by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI).
• The bond will be marketed through post offices and by various brokers/agents who may need to be paid a commission (like for Kisan Vikas Patra).
• The price of gold may be taken from National Commodity and Derivatives Exchange (NCDEX) / London Bullion Market Association/RBI and the rupee equivalent amount may be converted at the RBI reference rate on issue and redemption.
• Banks/ Non-bank financial companies (NBFCs)/Post Offices may collect money / redeem bonds on behalf of government (for a fee, the amount would be as decided).
• During 2015-16 financial year gold bonds equivalent of 50 tonnes of gold would be issued. Since the amount, around 13500 crore rupees, is not very high, it can be accommodated within the market borrowing programme for 2015-16.
• Since these bonds are part of the sovereign borrowing, they will be within the fiscal deficit target for 2015-16 and onwards.
• The amount received from the bonds will be used in lieu of government borrowing and the notional interest saved on this amount would be credited in an account Gold Reserve Fund.
• Gold Reserve Fund will be utilised to take care of the risk of increase in gold price that will be borne by the government.
• Capital gains tax treatment will be the same as for physical gold. This will ensure that an investor is indifferent in terms of investing in these bonds and in physical gold- as far as the tax treatment is concerned.
• Bonds will be issued on payment of money and would be linked to the price of gold.
• The sell would be restricted to resident Indian entities and each entity cannot buy more than 500 grams per person per year.
• The bonds will be issued in denominations of 2, 5 and 10 grams of gold or other denominations.
• The cap on bonds that may be bought by an entity would be at a suitable level, not more than 500 grams per person per year.
• The bonds will be issued with a nominal rate of interest (which will be linked to international rate for gold borrowing) as decided by the government.
• The rate of interest on the bonds will be payable in terms of grams of gold. The interest will be calculated on 10000 at a certain per cent say 2 or 3 percent.
• On maturity, the investor receives the equivalent of the face value of gold in rupee terms.
• The tenor of the bond could be for a minimum of 5 to 7 years so that it would protect investors from medium term volatility in the gold prices.
• These Bonds will be easily sold and traded on commodity exchanges
• Bonds can be used as collateral for loans. The Loan to Value ratio can be set equal to ordinary gold loan mandated by RBI from time to time.

Who has became longest-reigning UK monarch - Queen Elizabeth II

Among the important International Current Affairs, On 9th September 2015, Queen Elizabeth II became longest-reigning monarch of the United Kingdom.

She overtook the record set by her great-great-grandmother Queen Victoria who ruled for 63 years between 1837 and 1901.

On 6th February 1952, Queen Elizabeth II assumed the throne at the age of 25 upon the death of her father George VI.

Currently, she is the Supreme Governor of the Church of England and the head of the Commonwealth of Nations of 53 countries.

In addition to the United Kingdom, the Queen is the sovereign of 15 Commonwealth realms including Canada, Australia and New Zealand. Incidentally, none of these 15 countries are in Europe.

BSE has highest number of listed companies in the world - WFE

Among the important National Current Affairs, In September 2015, Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) has the highest number of listed companies in the world as announced by the World Federation of Exchanges (WEF).

A total number of 5689 companies were listed with the BSE by the end of June 2015. Although, there was only one foreign company out of 5689. By the end of June 2015, the National Stock Exchange of India (NSE) had 1750 listed companies .

On the other hand, Shanghai stock exchange of China (having 1070 companies) was at the top in terms of value of share trading with 30 trillion US dollars worth transactions in June 2015.

The total value of transactions in the BSE was 94 billion US dollars during the same period.

Amma baby care Kit Scheme was launched by - Tamil Nadu Government

Among the important National Current Affairs, On 7th September 2015, the Amma Baby Care Kit scheme was launched by Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Jayalalithaa wherein the state government will provide accessories for the newborn and its mother.

The accessories in the scheme includes an infant mattress, an infant dress, napkin, a towel, a mosquito net, a hand sanitizer (250ml), baby shampoo (60 ml), a soap with a box, a nail-cutter, Kilu Kiluppai (rattle toy), a doll, and oil bottle (100ml).

A locally made stimulant Sowbhagya Leghyam for the mother besides a box to store essentials meant for the newborn will also be included in the kit.

In the current year, a sum of 67 crore rupees has been reserved for the scheme with a plan to provide it to mothers at the government hospitals.

Jharkhand Government approved the formation of - Anti-Terrorism Squad

Among the important National Current Affairs, On 8th September 2015, the formation of an Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS) in the state was approved by the Jharkhand Government. Apart from this, 243 ATS posts will also be created.

The ATS will comprise of six DSP and 11 Inspectors in it and will be headed by an official of the rank of Superintendent of Police.

Jharkhand has turned into a shelter for terrorists, the two terrorists involved in the 2002 American Centre attack in Kolkata were from Jharkhand itself, however, they were killed in a gun battle with security forces in Hazaribagh district.

The accused of Patna's Gandhi Maidan bomb blasts in 2013 was also arrested from the state.

Who is appointed as a full time member Niti Aayog - Agriculture expert Ramesh Chand

Among the important National Current Affairs, On 8th September 2015, Professor Ramesh Chand, a renowned farm expert, was appointed as a full-time member of NITI (National Institution for Transforming India) Aayog.

He is also a member of a task force on agriculture development under Niti Aayog which is planning strategies to give a boost to the agriculture sector.

Since 2010, he was working as Director of National Institute of Agricultural Economics and Policy Research (NIAP) in New Delhi. Earlier, he headed a government panel on Minimum Support Price (MSP).

Arvind Panagriya (Vice Chairman of Aayog), economist Bibek Debroy and former DRDO chief VK Saraswat are other the full-time members of the Aayog. Prime Minister Narendra Modi is the chairman of the Aayog.